A Belize City teenager who was involved in a traffic accident that resulted in the death of a 5-year-old girl on Holy Saturday was charged with manslaughter by negligence and several other related charges, when she was arraigned in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, Thursday, May 8.
Magistrate Dale Cayetano did not have to take a plea from Visiona Carcamo, 18, because the offenses will be heard on indictment in the Supreme Court.
The court prosecutor did not object to bail, and Carcamo was released on $5,000 bail plus one surety of the same amount. She is due to return to court on July 14.
Apart from manslaughter by negligence, police also charged the Fabers Road resident with causing death by careless conduct; driving a motor vehicle without due care and attention; negligent wounding; using a motor vehicle not covered by third party risk insurance, driving a motor vehicle without a valid Belizean driver’s license, and driving with passengers in excess on a vehicle.
On Saturday, April 19, Carcamo was driving a red Honda Elite 125 motorcycle which slammed into a Belize City shuttle bus at the corner of North Front Street and Douglas Jones Street, resulting in the death of Akeelah Wade, 5, a student of Holy Redeemer Primary School. Wade suffered massive head and body injuries which resulted in her death. Carcamo and another passenger on the motorcycle, Kelsey Peyrefitte, were also injured in the accident.
Carcamo was driving out of Douglas Jones Street heading into North Front Street, when the accident occurred.
Police reported that on Saturday, April 19, 2014, at about 5:00 p.m., Ejeone Anthony Bermudez, 44, a resident of a Police Street address, was driving a Chevrolet shuttle bus on North Front Street. The bus was travelling from the direction of Mapp Street, and upon reaching the intersection of Douglas Jones Street, Visiona Carcamo ran into the side of it with her motorcycle. Akeelah Wade was seated at the front, while Kelsey Peyrefitte was seated at the back.
Peyrefitte suffered wounds to her left knee, the back of her head and on her right ear. Both she and Carcamo were treated and released from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH).