Relatives of 9-year-old killed in accident demands thorough probe

The relatives of nine-year-old Carleisa Lewis, who was killed in an accident along the Islington Public Road, East Bank Berbice (EEB) are calling for a thorough investigation after holding out that the child was not at fault.
Police had stated that the child was struck down and killed by a vehicle after she ran across the road and into the path of the vehicle. But her two sisters who witnessed the accident said that the child was hit while she was walking on the grass parapet.

According to one of her sisters, the nine-year-old had gone to a nearby shop and had crossed the road in the company of a neighbor who had gone into her yard as Carleisa continued to walk along the grass parapet, singing merrily, heading home.
She added that the CRV swerved straight off the road and collided with the girl. As the vehicle came to a halt, the now dead child had to be pulled from under it. Villagers said that the driver was asked to reverse so that they could get access to the injured girl.
Meanwhile, the other sister who witnessed the accident related that she ran out to the road after seeing the accident. The sister recalled seeing a male exiting through the back door of the vehicle – there were another male and a female along with the driver and a baby in the vehicle at the time of the accident.
“When I go in the car, the girl start telling him (the driver) ‘Ah tell you to slow down’. And from how she was talking, it looks like they had a problem in the car,” the teenager related. “Just come back from the shop and I was watching my little sister coming when I saw the car come and make a swerve into the corner and hit her, and she fell a little distance away and like he was not paying attention on the road.”

The dead girl’s father, Carlton Lewis says he understands that there was a fight in the car among the occupants. The car was reportedly swaying from side to side on the road prior to the accident.
“Like they had a fight in the car. People are saying that they had a fight in the car because the car was on and off of the road. I do not know how true it is, I just heard that,” the father of six said.
“My daughter: if she is going to cross the road and there was a bicycle or a motorbike coming, she would not cross the road. She always walked in the corner. She cannot use white socks because she is a girl always walking in the grass. It is not because this happened that is why I am saying this; if you asked anyone in the village, they will tell you that. When the incident happened, her sisters were looking and they laughing how she was walking on the road singing coming,” the grieving father told Guyana Times.

“When I reach to the hospital, I told my wife to go in first and see what is happening, and then I heard the screaming and I know what it meant. When I go in and checked her, her head was burst, her neck broken, and like all of the bones in her body break up. When I come and watch the accident scene, he dragged my daughter like 33 feet,” the father stated.
The face mask and money Carliesa had in her hand were found on the parapet. The Police are continuing their investigation into the accident.