Charged on hospital bed

From her hospital bed yesterday, the female driver of the motor car that ploughed into a crowded St Andrew bus stop last Monday was slapped with manslaughter charges.

However, the woman, identified as 33-year-old Ann-Marie Williams of Wellington Drive, St Andrew, was immediately granted bail in the sum of $750,000 and remained in a Corporate Area hospital.

Williams is scheduled to appear in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday.

Head of the Police Traffic Division, Senior Superintendent Radcliffe Lewis, said Williams, who is facing two counts of manslaughter, was charged in the presence of her attorney.

Johanna Scarlet, 51, and Esmerelda Evans, 60, who was blind, were killed when the Toyota Avalon motor car driven by Williams crashed into a bus stop along Old Hope Road.

Three other visually impaired persons were also injured.

Police investigators are still not clear what caused the accident, but Lewis said the probe could include a review of her cellphone records.

Death toll rises

In the meantime, the driver of the motor car that killed four persons at a wake in Clarendon early Sunday morning succumbed to his injuries yesterday, pushing the death toll from that horrific crash to five.

Head of the Clarendon police, Senior Superintendent Dathan Henry, confirmed that the man, identified as Kemar Hibbert, died at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI).

Hibbert, who suffered massive head injuries, was taken to the May Pen Hospital and later transferred to the UHWI.

Two other persons injured in the predawn accident remained hospitalised yesterday in serious but stable condition.

The other four victims, Walton McDonald, 54; Jeffrey Wynter, 51; André Thompson and Jeffrey Brown, both 17, were pronounced dead at the May Pen Hospital shortly after the incident.