…as police car, private vehicle collide

By Svetlana Marshall and Gabriella Chapman

FIVE persons were, on Tuesday morning, killed when a police car slammed into another car on the Friendship, East Bank Demerara Public Road.

Among those dead are Policeman Ronel Barker; Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Sergeant, Leon Tucker; Lovern Stoby, a member of the Special Constabulary and Herbert Josiah and his wife, Denise Josiah, both of whom worked at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre.

Barker, who was driving a Guyana Police Force (GPF) car, was proceeding south along the EBD corridor in the direction of Timehri at the time of the accident. He was in the company of Police Lance Corporal Travis Fullington, who is one of two survivors.

Tucker, the GDF Sergeant, was headed in the northern direction on the roadway in his private car (PPP 515) when disaster struck. Stoby, Herbert Josiah and his wife were all occupants of that vehicle along with another woman, who survived the early morning smash-up.

Surveillance footage nearby captured motorcar PPP 515 moving at a moderate pace when the police vehicle with flashing lights, slammed head-on into it. On the point of impact, the police vehicle spun several times before coming to a halt in a nearby trench.

Tucker’s body could be seen hanging from his mangled vehicle while his aunt – Lovern Stoby, and her neighbours – the married couple – were flung from the vehicle onto the road. The accident occurred at around 05:30hrs. Within minutes, droves of persons flocked the scene to get a glimpse of the accident.

PRESIDENT VISITED SCENE
President David Granger, who was at another EBD location, visited the scene after learning of the accident. The Ministry of the Presidency, on his behalf, issued a statement subsequently. “His Excellency David Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is saddened at the death of five persons following a tragic road accident on the Friendship Public Road, East Bank Demerara, this morning. President Granger expresses heartfelt sympathy to their relatives and friends,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, at Tucker’s Recht-Door-Zee, West Bank Demerara (WBD) residence, his relatives and friends gathered as they mourned his death and that of his aunt, Lovern Stoby. His wife, Paula Tucker, was too distraught to speak. Comforted by a pastor, Paula Tucker cried bitterly as she sat in a chair inside the house, while hugging one of their five children. The others, with the exception of one who resides in Canada, sat around in much disbelief.

“He was very quiet; always dedicated to his family; always at church; very humble; very disciplined; I can’t express myself enough,” his mother, Hyacinth Stoby, told Guyana Chronicle as she broke down in tears. “He loved his pet; he has two dogs, and he was very dedicated to them. Whenever he got home from work, he would ensure that he feeds them,” she added.

Tucker, 36, joined the military as a teenager. Hyacinth Stoby said her son was heading home from Base Camp Seweyo, Linden-Soesdyke Highway when upon seeing his aunt, stopped at Friendship to offer her a drop. “He saw his aunt on the road and decided to give her a drop along with the other residents,” she said.

Hyacinth Stoby is also the sister of Lovern Stoby – a mother of four. Present also at the house was another sibling, Bonita Stoby.
Bonita Stoby, who lives at Third Street, Friendship, was at home cooking when she learnt of her sister’s demise. They lived houses apart. Though in great doubt, Bonita Stoby made her way to the scene of the accident. “When I went on the road I saw my sister lying there. All I could have done was just stand, and look, look at my sister laying there on that grass; it was sad,” she told this newspaper.

Lovern Stoby, a special constable, was attached to John Fernandes Ltd. “She was very disciplined and punctual. Sometimes, she use to leave 4 o’clock in the morning, just to be on time, and I stopped her, so she started going out at 5:30, six the latest,” Bonita Stoby said.

She too confirmed that Tucker was heading from Base Camp Seweyo when he offered his aunt and her neighbours a drop to the city. Bonita Stoby said though she recognised her sister as one of the accident victims it was not until she reached the mortuary, that she was informed that the driver was her nephew.

“He was hanging out of the vehicle, and I didn’t know it was my nephew, and I didn’t know it was my nephew I was looking at, hanging out of that vehicle. I was just focusing on my sister, and it was my nephew there, hanging over that vehicle…So I lose my nephew and my second sister out of 10. She was the second out of 10 from one mother and father,” Bonita Stoby told this newspaper.

At the Josiahs’ Friendship home, their children, relatives and friends gathered. Denise King-Josiah, 57, was a maid supervisor at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre while her husband, Herbert Josiah, 58, was a porter. They got married in July this year after approximately two years of togetherness. Prior to their union, King-Josiah had six children – the youngest 16 years old –while Herbert Josiah fathered two children known to the family. They were on their way to work when the accident happened.

Denise King-Josiah’s third child, Jawella Durant, told the Guyana Chronicle that her mother was still alive after the accident. “When I got there she was still breathing but nobody rendered any assistance, they were just standing there…Mommy was still breathing and I holler, ‘y’all just standing here and y’all can carry these people to the hospital,” Durant recalled.

She said it was until she questioned why her mom was still lying on the road, that a police officer and a civilian rendered assistance. Durant noted too that instead of helping the accident victims, onlookers stole from them. “Her chain gone, her wedding ring gone, they just watched them there, watched them there, and offered no help,” she said.
Reflecting on the life of her mother, Durant said the community of Friendship will surely miss her.

HARD WORKING WOMAN
“She was hard working; she was a tower of strength; she was best thing that happened to most people in Friendship, out of Friendship, at the hospital. My mother, she could cheer you up in any situation…She wouldn’t even know somebody, but once they needed a place to sleep, she would just bring them home, even if means putting somebody out of their bed to get the bed, and the rest of us share a next bed,” Durant said in the presence of her siblings.

Meanwhile, at the home of the 23-year-old presidential guard in Beterverwagting on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), his reputed wife, Oksana Wharton, could not say much, since, at the time of Guyana Chronicle’s visit, she had not yet informed his family of his demise.

At the time, she was home with Ronel Barker’s sick grandmother and sister, but did not break the news to them because she was afraid of how they would react to his passing. While talking about Barker, the young woman could not hold back her tears. She said that Barker was a wonderful father to their three-year-old daughter, and was dedicated to his work. He was working for more than five years in that profession, she disclosed.

“He always wanted to be on time, never ever wanted to be late for his work. He took his job seriously, and his family. He always wanted to be present for his daughter, always joyful and always here for us,” Wharton said. She tried telling her daughter that her father died, but the little girl did not want to believe it. “That can’t happen. Daddy’s not dead,” the child said. Wharton couldn’t control her tears. Barker’s mother is expected to arrive in the country today. Travis Fullington and the other female survivor remain hospitalised.