Two killed in separate hit-and-run incidents in Clarendon

A 34-year-old mother of four was killed in a hit-and-run along the Bustamante Highway in Clarendon on Wednesday.

The Gleaner understands too that a man said to be of an unsound mind was killed in another hit-and-run early Thursday.

The police have confirmed that incident but said details were not readily available.

The deceased woman in Wednesday's incident has been identified as Ann Marie Beason, also known as 'Stephanie', a vendor of Rhules Pen, Palmers Cross in the parish.

Reports from the May Pen police are that about 10:30p.m., Beason was standing along the roadway when she was struck by a vehicle that did not stop. She was assisted to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Beason's spouse Jason Scale said they had just alighted from a taxi when the tragedy unfolded.

"Wi come off the taxi and by time mi pay wi fare, mi only hear a whistling sound a come from up the road an' by time mi grab har, the van already lick har, bruck har foot, hand and ribs," said Scale.

He lamented the road's poor conditions amid the fatal incident.

"Everyday dem sey dem a fix dis yah road yah an' mi nuh see no improvement....bare promises," said Scale , who also bemoaned poor visibility in the area due to the absence of streetlights.

"Maybe wid two light on the post dem, mi could ah even catch di licence plate," said Scale.

Scale said he is now haunted by the grim reality of raising their children, ages 14, 10, three and one, as a single parent, and has issued a warning to drivers.

"Him kill mi baby madda. My son dem ah guh grow up without a  madda. When everybody have fi dem family my own shorten. Unuh fi cut unuh speed. Unuh fi have heart. Not because people have walk foot and unuh a drive," said Scale.

A male pillion died in a collision on August 6 along Bustamante Highway in the parish.

Some 246 civilians have died in road crashes on the nation's roads up to August 14.

The figure is 60 fewer deaths when compared to 306 fatalities recorded in the corresponding in 2022.

- Olivia Brown 

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