“It was an accident ... but God knows best.”
This was how a female relative of two-year-old Jemi Williams yesterday described his death, following a vehicular accident along the Eastern Main Road (EMR) in St Joseph on Thursday night.
The youngster, who lived with his 34-year-old mother, grandmother and siblings at Second Street, Beetham Gardens, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Mt Hope Paediatric Hospital around 8.20 pm.
Police said a 35-year-old female driver was heading east in her white Nissan E26 panel van along the EMR when, upon reaching near SURE Security, she saw a child running from north to south across the road. The child’s mother was seen running behind him, with a two-month-old infant strapped to her chest.
Although the driver reportedly slammed on the brakes and swerved in an attempt to avoid hitting the child, she was unsuccessful and collided with Williams. She stopped a short distance away and rushed to render aid, before taking the mother and child to the hospital, where Williams was pronounced dead.
Doctors later told investigators that Williams died as a result of traumatic brain injury.
Although Williams’ relatives were not at home when Guardian Media visited yesterday, a young man recalled seeing Williams playing with his sister on the road. Asked what kind of child Williams had been, he said, “Always smiling.”
A female relative described Williams, who would have celebrated his third birthday on November 22, as “very bright and knew every letter in the alphabet. He already knew how to count to 20.”
Another woman who did not want to be named said from the information they got, the toddler pulled away from his mother for a split second while they were crossing the road. They said the woman told them she tried desperately to snatch him after he broke free but could not move quickly enough because she was hampered by the baby strapped to her chest.
She said the driver of the van was also left traumatised by the incident.
