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Police seeking guidance from DPP in case of 9-y-o girl's death

Published:Tuesday | July 24, 2018 | 12:00 AMJason Cross/Gleaner Writer

Paula Llewelyn, director of public prosecutions (DPP), should receive a file later this week from police investigators seeking guidance in a case in which nine-year-old Geana Leathing was fatally hit by a motor car driven by an intoxicated teenager in August Town, St Andrew, on Friday.

The Gleaner spoke to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Calvin Allen, who is in charge of the traffic division, and he advised that investigators were trying to confirm who was driving the vehicle.

"The situation is that in the St Andrew Central Police Division in August Town last week, a 17-year-old boy is suspected to have driven away his father's 2005 Mitsubishi truck without the consent of his father. The 17-year-old had an 18-year-old with him. One of them was driving when the vehicle lost control and ran into a board house, which was completely smashed," Allen related.

"Two elderly persons in their 60s and the two children were hit in the yard. At the end of it all, a nine-year-old child died from injuries. One adult remains hospitalised," the SSP continued. " Inspector Keith Steele out of St Andrew Central has been doing good ground investigative work. Both occupants of the vehicle were breath-tested. The 18-year-old showed zero [reading] on the machine while the 17-year-old registered very high," Allen explained.

Allen disclosed, too, that neither of the occupants of the vehicle possessed a driver's licence nor were they covered by insurance. He said that a file was being prepared to be sent to the DPP later this week for her final directions on the case.

"Our children are on holiday. We are imploring parents to be far more careful about how they leave certain things like car keys and licensed firearms around the home," said Allen.

jason.cross@gleanerjm.com