[UPDATED] 2 teens die as unlicensed driver crashes car in attempt to escape cops

AN innocent joyride ended in death for two teenagers, injuries to a third and possible criminal charges for a fourth – an unlicensed driver who failed to stop during a police roadblock out of fear of getting in trouble with his mother – whose car he took without her consent.

Police said Marabella teenagers Kelita Jamal King, 16, of Riverside Road, Battoo Boulevard, and Trey Collymore, 15, of Harmony Hall, both died in the February 10 accident.

The car in which they were back-seat passengers spun out of control and crashed into a light pole on Southern Main Road, Pointe-a-Pierre, near Flower Pot beach, during a police chase.

A third passenger, Joel Yarde, 16, of Second Street, Battoo Avenue, Marabella, is warded at the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH). He is said to be in a stable condition.

Two other occupants – the 16-year-old driver and another passenger, who is said to be 14 – escaped with minor injuries. Police said the driver and the front-seat passenger became disoriented as a result of the crash and wandered away to a nearby area, but were found some time later.

The accident crushed the back of the car and fire officers had to use the jaws of life to cut through it to free King, Collymore and Yarde, who were trapped in the back seat.

Assistant Commissioner of Police South/Central Wayne Mystar said according to preliminary investigations, police from the Marabella station were doing a traffic exercise on the Southern Main Road, Marabella, near Tropical Plaza, around 9.40 pm on February 10.

He said they tried to stop a red Nissan Tiida travelling at high speed, but the driver did not comply. The police chased the car, and the driver subsequently lost control and hit the light pole.

Emergency responders pronounced King dead at the scene. Yarde and Collymore were taken to the SFGH, where Collymore died of his injuries.

At the King family home on February 11, grieving family members sat huddled together trying to come to terms with the news, accepting condolences from friends and relatives who dropped by to pay their respects.

His mother, Betty King, had just returned to Trinidad for her son’s appointment with the US Embassy on February 15 to renew his passport, so that King, a US citizen, could go to live with her there. She silently hugged his favourite blue sweater, burying her face in its folds, and sometimes using it to wipe her tears.

His aunt Nikita Dayal said King was the baby of the family, being the last of five siblings. She had taken care of King in his mother’s absence.

She said she went to sleep with her nephew in her house, only to be woken after midnight by a phone call telling her he was dead.

“He was at home, hanging with a friend. I gave that friend a 10 pm deadline to leave my house, and went to sleep.

“Sometime before 10 pm, one of my sons told me they were watching television when they heard a car horn blowing in front of the house.”

She said King, a form-four student of Marabella East Secondary School, went outside and told his cousin the people in the car were his friends.

Her son came back in and resumed watching television, but when he looked outside sometime later, King, the friend he had been liming with and the occupants of the car were nowhere to be seen.

“That is unlike Jamal, to leave and not say where he is going. He never leaves the house without telling me.

“I found it strange that it was a school night, and he left without his jacket. His friend also left his phone and some other items on the banister.

“This to me indicates they had no intention of leaving to go anywhere.”

She said she always entertained her nephew and his friends, including the driver of the Tiida, at her home, where they could be safe, and she had no idea how Jamal was persuaded to leave her house at that hour.

She said one of the survivors told them after the crash that the driver had been scared when the police tried to stop him, “because he took his mother’s car without her knowledge and did not want to get in trouble.”

The survivor “told me as the driver sped off, Jamal and the others started screaming and begging him to stop. He said Jamal told him to do the right thing, but he accelerated down the Beaumont Hill until he ran off the road, lost control, started to spin on the road and finally crashed into the lightpole."

Describing King, she said he “knew right from wrong. He grew up knowing the ‘word.’ He was a God-fearing person. He believed in living the good life.”

She warned young people to heed the old adage that: “Friends would carry you, but they don’t bring you back.

“Always have your head on. Be a leader, not a follower.”

Clevon Collymore, uncle of Trey Collymore, said the same thing..

Clevon, 52, said this saying had been drilled into him since he was a boy, and he still followed it.

He said his nephew, a student of Servol, left home and told a neighbour he was going to play football on the evening of February 10.

“But sometime later his friends picked him up in a car, and we don’t know where they were going. He never returned home.”

He said Trey was considered the “king” of the family because of his good looks, fair skin and good behaviour.

“You know in every family you have a favourite – Trey was the king. He was quite cool, pretty, did not talk much, was smart, well-known and well-loved.

“The accident took him away from us.

“The information surrounding his death is sketchy, but it seems as though the driver, being underage and unlicensed, was afraid to stop at the police roadblock. But look how that ended in tragedy.”

ACP Mystar said a minor was assisting police with their investigations.

He said he was deeply concerned about the age of those involved and warned owners they could be prosecuted for letting unlicensed minors drive their cars. Mystar also encouraged people to report reckless driving via the 999 hotline.

The ACP said Marabella police are doing a thorough investigation and urged drivers to obey traffic laws to prevent more such tragedies.

W/Cpl Changoor is continuing enquiries.

This story was originally published with the title "Two teens dead, third injured in Pointe-a-Pierre crash" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

TWO young men from Marabella died and a third was seriously injured when the car in which they were passengers crashed into a lightpole at Pointe-a-Pierre, after the driver evaded a police roadblock.

The dead teens have been identified as Kelita Jamal King, 16, of Riverside Road, Battoo Boulevard, Marabella, and Trey Collymore, 19, of Harmony Hall, Marabella.

The third passenger, Joel Yarde, 16, of Second Street, Battoo Avenue, is warded at the San Fernando General Hospital and is said to be in a stable condition.

A police report said around 9.40 pm on February 10, police from the Marabella station were holding a road exercise on the Southern Main Road, Pointe-a-Pierre, near Tropical Plaza.

They saw a Red Nissan Tiida driving fast along the road and tried to stop it.

The driver refused to stop and drove off at the same speed. The police chased the Tiida, whose driver reportedly lost control near the Flower Pot Beach and veered off the road, hitting the light pole.

The impact damaged the front and rear of the car.

Police found three male passengers of African descent pinned in the back seat. The driver reportedly fled.

The Mon Repos Fire Services, led by FSSO Solomon, used the jaws of life to remove the passengers from the wreck.

Emergency medical personnel at the scene examined King but found no vital signs. Yarde and Collymore were taken to the SFGH. Collymore died of his injuries while being treated.

W/Cpl Changoor is continuing enquires.