Eight-year-old student struck by police vehicle

Three weeks ago you saw your mother being buried. Now, as you are standing at the side of the road awaiting the arrival of your eight-year-old sister, tragedy strikes!{{more}}

At around 3:20 pm on Tuesday, June 9th, ten-year-old Makeha Williams watched in horror as her eight-year-old sister Myesha was struck by a Sports Utility Vehicle.

The vehicle (P2871), which is operated by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, was being driven into Kingstown by police constable Dominic O’Garro.

SEARCHLIGHT understands that Myesha, a grade two pupil of the C.W. Prescod Primary School, was at the pedestrian crossing in the vicinity of the National Lotteries Authority’s tennis court at Richmond Hill, while her sister, who had already crossed the road, was waiting on the other side for her.

Myesha waited until she had been told that it was okay to cross the road by an unidentified adult man, information reaching SEARCHLIGHT indicates.

“The van come down in speed,” a shaken Makeha, who also attends the same school, told SEARCHLIGHT.

“I see the van hit her, lift her up and drop her on the ground,” Makeha said.

One eyewitness, Michelle Mc Intosh of Diamond, told SEARCHLIGHT that she had just passed the crossing, heading out of town in her vehicle PA 694, and had come to a stand still in the traffic.

“I saw the kids passing at the back through my rearview mirror and saw the jeep speeding, coming down the middle lane,” Mc Intosh said.

According to Mc Intosh, she heard a loud noise, and looked back and saw people gathering so she jumped out of her vehicle to see what was wrong.

“The girl was rolling in the road,” Mc Intosh said.

She told SEARCHLIGHT that the girl rolled to the side of the road until she hit the slight incline at the sidewalk and laid facedown.

Meanwhile, Makeha told SEARCHLIGHT that seeing her sister like that made her think about her mother, Stephlana Williams, who died three weeks ago.

Stephlana left behind three children, the two girls, and a 12-year-old son, Michael, who lives with his great grandmother, Esther Woodley in Sion Hill.

Myesha was taken to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital. At around 7 am on Wednesday, June 10th, she was airlifted to the St Clair Medical Centre in Trinidad, courtesy the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

When SEARCHLIGHT visited Woodley on Wednesday, she said that her great grandchildren were still grieving for their mother and she was hoping that little Myesha will be alright.

“I am their official guardian, but everybody in the family works together to raise them,” Woodley said.

She told SEARCHLIGHT that it was very tough for Makeha to witness such a horrible incident.

Last Wednesday Makeha was taken to the Streams of Power church where elders prayed for her and counseled her.

An officer in the Public Relations Department of the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force told Searchlight that investigations into the accident are ongoing.