Bodies of Jessie Ripoll principal, wife to be flown home
Published:Thursday | January 9, 2025 | 12:07 AMLester Hinds/Gleaner Writer
NEW YORK:
The bodies of O’Neil Stevens and his wife, Camesha Lindsay-Stevens, are to flown home to Jamaica for burial.
This was confirmed to The Gleaner by Lindsay-Stevens’ mother Veron Roper-Brown, and Khadian Henry, one of Stevens’ cousins.
The relatives said the autopsies on the couple, who were mowed down in the United States last week, are expected to be completed by Friday after which arrangements will be made to fly the bodies home to Jamaica for a funeral service and burial.
The Gleaner has also learnt that the Stevenses’ young daughters have expressed their wish to return to the island and will return to Jamaica at the same time as their parents’ bodies.
Stevens, who was the principal of Jessie Ripoll Primary School, was in the process of returning to the island along with his wife and two daughters after vacationing in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, when tragedy struck.
The four were travelling to the airport with Roper-Brown and another relative, who was driving the Hyundai Passport Odyssey motor vehicle. They reportedly pulled to the side of the road to repair a flat tyre when a vehicle slammed into the couple.
No one else was injured.
Stevens reportedly died on the spot while his wife passed away just as she got to an urgent care centre.
The driver of the other vehicle stayed on the scene and was administered a breathalyser test, which came up negative.
No charges have been laid against the driver at this time, although the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating.