It's been over 24 hours since Marilee Cardines has had to live without her teenage son after he was killed yesterday morning around 10:30. As we told you, 16 year old Terrell Cardines was knocked down by a Floralia bus not far from his home in Hattieville. It has left the village in mourning since, by all accounts, he was a loving, respectful teen. He was supposed to start fourth form in August, but now his mother will never get to see him graduate.
Courtney Menzies visited her today and has this story.
16 year old Terrell Cardenes was riding his bike in his home village of Hattieville when he was struck by a Floralia bus heading towards Belize City. Cardenes died on the scene, leaving his community and his classmates at Gwen Lizarraga High School in shock.
His mother was at work when she got the news and she never got the chance to see her son alive one last time.
Marilee Cardenes, Mother of Deceased
"I told my next sister to SOS me when the ambulance reached. So she SOS'd me when she was on the road going with my son's dad to the hospital and I called my next sister and asked if the ambulance already left and she was the one who told me my baby was dead."
"Shock, crying. I was talking to my mom crying. Said some things I wasn't supposed to say. Afterwards I felt sorry but I cried."
Cardenes says her son was full of love, and now their home is missing an important piece.
Marilee Cardenes, Mother of Deceased
"When you see him coming, he comes with a lot of love and kisses and hugs. Everybody was love. The thing is you couldn't stay angry with him for long and the moment you're angry with him and scold him, he comes to hug and kiss you, "my love, you know I love you. Stop railing up." That's what I will miss the most about my son, the hugs and the kisses."
"It's hard. My daughter couldn't sleep home last night, I had to send her to her godmother. My baby, he doesn't fully understand because he's still a baby but my daughter is taking it hard."
"They're all close, they go to church together. My daughter and my son were the closest because they sing at the church. Those two were close."
Cardenes was also close to the kids in his third form class and today, even though school is closed, his homeroom came together to give a gift to his mother.
Marilee Cardenes, Mother of Deceased
"He told me he wanted to open his own business when he got older that's why he went into business."
"The homeroom teacher called the students from his class for them to come in. I have an envelope here that I haven't read yet with things from his class. I haven't opened it yet. Each person wrote a note."
"When you see those kids and you wish your son was there… but the memories that they shared with my son, it helped a little."
Meanwhile, the bus that hit her son is currently impounded at the Hattieville Police Station, and the driver, 20 year old Yordi Salazar was issued with an NIP.
The driver has been served with a notice of intended prosecution.
