Boy, 7, dies four months after struck down by hire car

Seven-year-old Jayden Cheefoon succumbed four months after he was struck down by a hire car on the Lovely Lass Public Road on the West Coast of Berbice.

The young boy was bedridden after the accident and died sometime between Thursday and Friday last, Regional Commander Kurleigh Simon told the News Room. He had suffered severe head injuries and a fractured shoulder.

The driver of the car, 50-year-old Joseph Warde, was initially arrested and later placed on station bail.

Commander Simon disclosed that the Director of Public Prosecutions had initially advised that no charges be laid against the driver, but now that Cheefoon has died, the file will be resent for advice.

Cheefoon was struck down by Warde on February 13 at about 11:15hrs; at the time, he was on his way back from a nearby shop with his other siblings and a cousin.

Warde had told police that the young lad suddenly ran into the path of his car and despite trying to avoid hitting him, the car collided with Cheefoon.

Cheefoon was picked up in a serious condition and taken to the Fort Wellington Hospital; he was subsequently transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was admitted for two months.

He was the youngest of four children and a Grade Three pupil at the Lachmansingh Primary School.

Efforts to contact the relatives of the lad were unsuccessful.