A teenager was knocked down and killed at mile three and a half one the Northern Highway last night. No one can say for sure what caused the accident – but as Jacqueline Godwin found out – the collision was massive and terminal.
Carlos Antonio Bonilla, Stepfather of Deceased
“No, we noh know what happened, what are the injuries he received, we noh see him.”
But the graphic scene left behind by mile four on the Northern Highway indicate it was a horrific fatal knockdown that took the life of eighteen year old Honduran national Ernesto Escobar. According to Carlos Antonio Bonilla his stepson had only moved into the area about three months ago. The victim was hit by a 2001 Ford Ranger driven at the time by thirty one year old Teodoro Marin
Ernesto Escobar received massive head and body injuries and died on the spot. The skids mars on the pavement suggest that Teodoro Marin who was heading in the northerly direction towards the Haulover Bridge lost control and ran off the right hand side of the road where it is believed Ernesto Escobar was standing when the vehicle struck him.
Carlos Antonio Bonilla,
“He lived for about two or three months over there. Always he was careful when he passed the street but this time I don’t know because this car, it was in the night. The driver, I don’t know what happened, if he had a lot of speed, I don’t know why he never stopped. I don’t know what happened.”
Carlos Antonio Bonilla says the family did not know until one hour and half
after the accident. This stepfather says suspects the driver was speeding at the time and maybe did not even see anyone. Bonilla also believes Teodoro Marin tried to avoid hitting his stepson but that it was too late.
Carlos Antonio Bonilla,
“The man from the vehicle never saw him. When he saw him, he was too close and I tried to get control to try and not knock him but he still knocked my son. I am 100% sure if he had control of his vehicle, if he reduced the speed with the high light maybe he would have seen my son. But he had a lot of speed.”
The death was sudden and tragic that has left the victim’s family totally unprepared to even bury their loved one to rest. Today Carlos Bonilla says he is hoping the driver who killed his stepson will assist.
Carlos Antonio Bonilla,
“We noh have money for do the rest of the funeral. We need some help. We only need the driver to help us. I don’t want him to get to jail for a long time, no. Only the police know what they will do with him.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
But the family wants the driver to come to the family and them out financially?
Carlos Antonio Bonilla,
“Yes, correct.”
Today thirty one year old Teodoro Marin appeared in Belize City Magistrate’s Court where he was arraigned on the charged of manslaughter by negligence.
