Mother of 4 among fatalities in horrific EBD smash-up

Four of the five victims killed in Tuesday morning’s horrific accident at Friendship, East Bank Demerara were related and travelling in one car.

They are Special Constable, Lovern Stoby – a mother of four – of Third Street, Friendship; her nephew who was also the driver of the car, Leon Tucker and their neighbours – 58-year-old Herbert Josiah and his wife 57-year-old Denise Josiah.

The News Room understands that Tucker is a member of the Guyana Defence Force and the father of two young daughters; the married couple worked at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre.

Two other persons, Travis Fullington, a Police Lance Corporal who was in the escort vehicle and Treisha London, who was in the private car, are in a critical condition.

Stoby was on the Friendship public road awaiting transportation to go to work when Tucker drove by and offered to drop her; the husband and wife were already in the car.

CCTV footage of the horrific head-on collision shows when the Police escort vehicle slammed into the car. A Presidential Guard identified as Ronnel Barker of Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara (ECD) also died in the accident.

It is observed from the CCTV footage that upon seeing the Police vehicle, Tucker applied brakes and stopped in his lane when the speeding Police vehicle slammed into him and ended up inside a trench.

Tucker’s body was left protruding from the shattered windscreen while the bodies of his aunt and the married couple were lying at the side of the road.

The Police car was heading to Pearl to escort President  David Granger to Georgetown when the accident occurred.

The Head-of-State visited the horrific scene.