President’s College student killed in Paradise accident

Thirteen-year-old President’s College student Kojo McPherson Jr died yesterday after a car crashed into his bicycle on the Paradise Line Top Road, East Coast Demerara.

When Stabroek News visited the scene, there was broken glass on the road along with a fragmented licence plate number. Some five metres away from the broken glass, a green patch of grass was stained with blood.

A resident who was in a nearby barbershop said there was no eyewitness when the deadly accident occurred. It was a screeching sound that alerted the residents.

Kojo McPherson Jr
Kojo McPherson Jr

When the crowd gathered to see what the screeching sound was, they saw the 13-year-old child lying in his blood. His bicycle, one resident pointed out was a further 10 metres away.

Another resident said he believed the driver was speeding since from his observation the man’s windscreen was shattered. The resident said that with the distance the child was pitched there is no way the driver could have been going at a normal pace.

The resident said the driver, who goes by the nickname ‘Iguana’ was involved in another fatal accident a few months back. He said `Iguana’ is a notorious wild horse with little regard for safety.

When Stabroek News visited the young man’s home at 755 Paradise Housing Scheme, his father, Kojo Mcpherson Sr was in tears. His yard was filled with friends and family who were trying their best to console the grief-stricken man.

The man said a local barber visited his home and from his body language, he foreshadowed tragic words were about to be uttered.

He recalled asking the barber, “is Kojo? wam to he, he dead.” To which the barber replied, “I don’t know, but come see.”

The man dashed to see what had happened to his son and when he arrived at the scene, his son was motionless.

He went to investigate and observed severe head injuries. McPherson said that the driver told him that it was his child’s fault and he thought it was a dog he knocked down.

He then asked the driver, “How you gonna knock down my son and think is a dog on the road?”

The man said the driver showed no remorse and kept insisting that it was his son’s fault and he had mistaken the young boy for a dog.

The man who was heavily distressed said, “My son was the bloom of my life, and I couldn’t believe it was he that lie down pun the road deh.”

The man described his son as introverted and well read. He said, “There is a whole library upstairs and now I ain’t know what to do with the books because Kojo ain’t deh.”

Kojo had wanted to be a civil engineer. And everyone in his father’s yard said the child was brilliant for his age and he would carry on intelligent conversations with the adults in the neighbourhood because he was knowledgeable on a variety of topics.

The young boy also leaves behind to mourn his sister, stepmother and mother. The post-mortem examination will be conducted at the Georgetown Public Hospital.