‘He was my baby’ - Heartbreak after 11-year-old dies in hit-and-run

On Monday morning, Shaneka Ewart wrestled with a quiet, nagging doubt about whether she should send her 11-year-old son, Duryan McKenzie, back to school. He had just recovered from the flu after being out for two weeks, and she wasn't sure he was ready.

But having already missed so many days, she decided he should resume classes. However, in a cruel twist of fate, young Duryan, a Grade 6 student at Drews Avenue Primary and Infant School in St Andrew, died after being hit by a motor vehicle that afternoon as he headed home.

"It is not easy for me because Duryan was my only child," a distraught Ewart told THE WEEKEND STAR.

"I am planning his funeral now, but I should be preparing for his 12th birthday next month. I had plans of taking him to the movie and Buzzers and get him pizza like he wanted. His grandmother had ordered a chain set online for him, and now we going to have to bury him in it," Ewart said, her voice cracking as she sat among relatives outside their home in Ferry district, St Catherine.

Police reports are that about 3:02 p.m., the boy was walking along a roadway when he was hit by a motorist, who did not stop. The driver was later arrested, after police reportedly used the vehicle's licence plate to track him.

Duryan is the third child under the age of 15 years old to have died as a result of road crashes since the start of the year. Data from the Road Safety Unit also indicate that as of June 12, 173 lives have been lost to road crashes. Pedestrians account for 39 deaths or 23 per cent of fatalities since the start of the year.

For Ewart, the loss of her son is not a mere statistic--it's a heartbreak that shattered her world. He was her only child, her joy, her purpose.

"He was my baby and it's hard with him not being here. His father is trying to keep strong, but like the rest of us, he is having a very difficult time. Duryan was my only child and I love with him with everything I have," she said.

Every school morning, Duryan would leave his grandmother's home and come to his mother's house. Ewart would get him ready for the day, and his father would drop him off at school. In the afternoons, Duryan took the bus home -- something he had been doing since Grade 3 despite having a learning disability.

On Monday, Duryan, as is his route, got off the bus and was heading home from school when he was hit by a minivan. The incident occurred on the Ferry service road, adjacent to the main roadway, Mandela Highway. His mother recalled receiving multiple telephone calls, informing her that her son was the victim of a hit-and-run.

"He was already in the patrol vehicle when I got there. On the journey, my son opened his eyes and look at me, and then he closed them and he never opened them again," Ewart said as her voice trembled.

She paused. The silence hung heavy.

Duryan's grandmother, Michelle Roberts, fought to hold back tears as she remembered her grandson's gentle spirit.

"He was a nice little boy. He wasn't talkative, but he loved his two cousins, and on a Friday night they would come down and they spend the weekend together, and that was when you would hear his mouth the loudest. I love and miss him very much," Roberts said.

The area where Duryan was struck is marked as a school zone, with a speed limit of 50 km/h. Warning signs are clearly posted, but Ewart said it is common for motorists to treat the road like it is a racetrack.

"Sometimes when they pass you, just the breeze from their speed will blow you away. It is not children alone who are at risk but the elderly as well. There are schools within the vicinity so everyone is at risk," Ewart said.

She is pleading with motorists: "I am begging them just to slow down if they have to drive here. Just respect the zone as it is a service road and a school zone."

"If this driver was driving within the correct speed limit, even if my child got hit, he probably would have survived," she said.