A 50-year-old man was killed in a hit-and-run accident while attempting to cross Sheriff Street in the vicinity of the Campbellville Secondary School, early Monday morning in the city.
Edward Sylvester Jeffers of 97 Plum Park, Sophia died when he was reportedly struck by a green Toyota Carina AT 212 at around 03:00hrs.
Pieces of the car’s number plate were found at the scene of the accident.
In a police release it was stated that Jeffers was attempting to cross from the eastern shoulder of the road to the western when he was struck down.
The man, who is alleged to be a drug addict, reportedly died on the spot. This newspaper was told that the man’s body was tossed several feet into the air and landed near a Chinese restaurant.
According to reports, Jeffers sustained shattered bones, and his arm appeared severely damaged since it was wrapped around his back while his legs were twisted backward.
The dead man’s niece, Natasha Ferdinand, said that her uncle lived with his only daughter, and started using drugs a long time ago. However, in the past two years he got worse, started to stay away from home, and did odd jobs around the city.
Ferdinand said that she received information that the driver of the vehicle which hit her uncle later went to the Texaco gas station on Regent Street. There, pump attendants heard him and his male passenger discussing the fact that they had just struck a man, she said. It is unclear whether the attendants took the car’s licence number.
Ferdinand said that she was told by eyewitnesses that the driver was trying to overtake another vehicle and appeared to be under the influence of alcohol.
The dead man’s niece urged the driver to come forward.
“It is a life taken… he was a person, and a very caring person too; he had one daughter and five grandchildren,” she said.
In an unrelated accident at around 00: 45hrs on Sunday, 39- year- old Alex Johnson died after the car in which she was travelling slammed into an electricity pole at No 74 Village Public Road.
Police said that Johnson of No 35 Village, Corentyne, and seven others, including the driver- Ravindra Prettipaul, 22, of Brighton Village, Corentyne, were in motor car PFF 405. The driver was reportedly speeding along the public road and subsequently drove the vehicle into the pole before it ended up in a resident’s yard.
The passengers and driver were all taken to the Skeldon Hospital where Johnson was pronounced dead on arrival.
Prettipaul was admitted, and the six others were treated and sent away. The driver’s condition is listed as stable.
