Yesterday, we told you about the tragic traffic incident that took the life of 6-year-old Makaya Magdaleno. The young student was riding her bike - which she does often - a few feet away from her home, when she was hit from behind by a butane truck. The impact killed her instantly, leaving her family to grieve a little girl who never got the chance to even graduate primary school.
Today, Courtney Menzies visited her home in Hopkins Village. Here is that story.
Just after midday yesterday, 6-year-old Makaya Magdaleno was enjoying the last of her summer vacation in her home village of Hopkins. She had plans to visit her sister, and to go swimming. But all that was tragically cast aside when she was hit by a Lucas and Son Butane Truck.
Young Makaya was riding her bike around this curve, when the truck came from behind and hit her. Her older sister says she was already on the beachside when she got the distressing call.
Zeida Magdaleno, Sister of Deceased
"As I reached on the beach and spread the blanket, waiting for my cousin to reach, I got a call from the young lady, the young lady said, hurry come, your sister just died. I said, what? It's not an accident or something? She said, your sister just died. I said, you are not serious. The same minute after, like two minutes after, like five different people were calling me so I was screaming on the street and I started running barefoot, and I just jumped in a young man car and said, please hurry take me to the north, I want to see what happened. I was screaming, crying, I didn't even know what to do at that time. So when I reached close to Castillo Store, I saw a crowd this side, and I started to scream more. So when the car was reaching closer, before the car even stopped, I already jumped out of the vehicle, I could've gotten hurt, but I couldn't believe it, I was in shock. I saw my step sister there crying. I can't believe it, at least if they knocked her down, they could've hurt her, but to kill her? We didn't expect this."
And neither did the rest of the village. One eyewitness told us he saw the truck at the lane, but couldn't have expected that the 6-year-old was lying dead beside it.
Nelson Martinez, Eyewitness
"I saw when the truck was turning but I didn't notice that someone was hit until I reached closer. When I got there, I saw the two drivers from the gas truck were standing beside the body. That time I saw the body lying on the roadside, and her bike was right beside her."
"As I saw her, I noticed that it was one of Rocka's daughters and I just come from by Castillo Store to buy and I saw Rocka there so when I saw his daughter on the ground, I literally turned back and I drove back by Castillo Store, and I told Rocka they just knocked down one of his daughters, she's dead, so he said, it's true? And he hurry ran that way."
Reporter:
"Did it appear as if though she was riding in the same direction that the truck was going or no."
Nelson Martinez, Eyewitness
"Yes ma'am. She was riding in the same direction. When I looked at her, she was already, dead, she wasn't moving."
Courtney Menzies:
"So it seems to you that maybe the truck hit her from behind?"
Nelson Martinez, Eyewitness
"Yes ma'am. It's a very sad news to us. It's saddens the whole village."
And that's because, according to her sister, many of the residents knew little Makaya for her friendly disposition.
Zeida Magdaleno, Sister of Deceased
"She likes to play, she love her friends, she always meets new people because she's respectful, everybody she greet, everybody loves Makaya."
"She liked a lot of things, she would play nurse, she would play doctor, she would play police, she would play barbie everything. She has her special barbie doll that she loves. She would bathe the doll for hours in the bathroom, her mom would tell her to stop wasting the water with the doll. She was a happy person, she loved her nieces her nephews, play with them. She has her best friend that lives right over there, best friend can't take it right now. The little girl is still crying from last night."
"My pa can't take it. Nobody slept last night, my pa, every minute, he wants to walk by the curve, he cried all night. Really, shocking for us, we didn't expect this."
Makaya would have been going into Infant 2 when classes resumed at Holy Family RC School.
The driver, 49-year-old Alwyn Buezo, was detained and issued with an NIP.
According to the family, the proprietor of Lucas and Sons has reached out to them and was supposed to meet with them today.
As we have reported, another Lucas butane truck hit and killed a 10-year-old boy back in 2020 in Libertad Village.
