Kevin Bizzeth, the fireman who was driving a car that plowed into a group of persons at Kairuni, Soesdyke-Linden Highway, leaving three dead and two in critical condition, was on Friday charged with three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
Bizzeth, of Rainbow City, Mackenzie, was taken to the Diamond/ Grove Magistrates’ Court, after the police sought advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions, Division 4(B) Commander Mahendra Siwnarine told this newspaper yesterday.
Bizzeth was charged with causing the death of Antonia Henry, 87, Melina Emmanuel, 40, and Akese Jerome, 8, on May 23, at Kairuni.
Magistrate Judy Latchman released him on $300,000 bail for each charge and the proceedings were adjourned until June 25.
Siwnarine told this newspaper that after the post-mortem examinations were conducted, the police sent the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions for recommendation. He informed that the examinations showed that the three deceased died as a result of blunt force trauma and damage to their organs. Meanwhile, Alina Persaud, 8, and Rodwell Jerome, 50, who were also left critically injured as a result of the accident, remain hospitalised in intensive care.
According to Siwnarine, Persaud and Jerome are each still hospitalised in critical condition.
The Ministry of Home Affairs yesterday announced that the Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn visited with relatives of the deceased on Wednesday. In a statement, the ministry said Benn expressed condolences on behalf of his ministry and his personal regret at the tragic loss of life. He also undertook to follow up on the government’s commitment to provide aid to the bereaved and support for the survivors of the fatal accident.
Police reported that the accident occurred around 9.50 pm. The victims were at the front of their gap, waiting for their relatives after Henry called them out to wait with her. While waiting, one of the relatives, who was not sitting with them on the curb of the roadside, said that she noticed the car. driven by Bizzeth, was proceeding south along the eastern side of the road at a fast rate. She had told this newspaper that she told her relatives to move back into the gap but by this time, the driver lost control of the vehicle. As a result, he collided with the curb on the left side of the road before the car careened into the group of persons who were sitting on the side of the road on the same curb.
The police had said that the younger Jerome was taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, while her grandmother, Henry, and her mother, Emmanuel, were picked up in an unconscious state and taken to the Mackenzie Hospital by a passing vehicle. They were all pronounced dead on arrival by the doctors on duty at the hospitals.
Meanwhile, the the elder Jerome and Persaud were also picked up in an unconscious state and taken to the Mackenzie Hospital. Jerome is presently at the Mackenzie Hospital, while Alena is at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
