Man surrenders in deadly hit-and-run case
Published:Friday | April 26, 2019 | 12:39 AMAdrian Frater/News Editor
Western Bureau:
The man believed to have been the driver of an ill-fated motor car, which mowed down and killed two-year-old Sasha-Gaye ‘Munchie’ Dennis along the Howard Cooke Boulevard in Montego Bay on Tuesday, is now in police custody in St Thomas.
The man, whose identity is being withheld pending further investigations, reportedly turned himself in at the Morant Bay Police Station on Wednesday night. The vehicle, which is believed to have dragged Sasha-Gaye several chains to her death, is also in the custody of the police.
“I can confirm that a man turned himself over to the Morant Bay police at about 10:40 p.m. on Wednesday night,” Superintendent Vernon Ellis, the commanding officer for St James, told The Gleaner yesterday.
It is believed that because the accident occurred in St James, it is expected that the driver will be transported back to the western parish, where he is expected to be questioned and charged.
According to reports, at about 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Diana Whitely and her four children, including Sasha-Gaye, were heading towards the KFC outlet on Howard Cooke Boulevard after spending the day at the beach. A motorist reportedly stopped to allow them to cross, but another speeding car came around that car and struck Sasha-Gay and her 10-year-old sister, who was carrying her.
“Mi and the four children a come from di beach. Wi stop off and buy ice cream, and then wi decide fi buy chicken at KFC when di man kill mi pickney,” said Whitely, in recalling the incident to The Gleaner on Wednesday morning. “A car stop fi mek wi cross, and mi don’t know weh the other driver come from. Mi jus si when him ‘zoops’ round the car, and next ting mi know, him lick down Munchie and Shadea (the injured sister).”
Whitely said the car that killed her daughter stopped briefly and a man alighted. However, she said he was called back into the vehicle by the driver, who sped off with Sasha-Gaye still trapped under the vehicle. She was reportedly dragged several chains before she was separated from the vehicle.
Following the accident, the police said they received valuable information from witnesses and launched a manhunt for the driver and the white 2009 Nissan Note motor car.