2 die, 1 critically hurt when car jumps curb
Published: January 23, 2012
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A wrecked car sits by the side of Weymouth Rhymer Highway on Sunday morning after a crash that killed two pedestrians.
ST. THOMAS - An east-bound Honda Accord jumped a curb on Weymouth Rhymer Highway and struck three young women, killing two and critically injuring a third Sunday.
The driver struck the pedestrians on a stretch of sidewalk at the base of Donoe Bypass and collided with a stop sign, spun around and crashed into a V.I. Water and Power Authority pole.
The impact killed Aliya Robles, 17, and Jolicia Wilson, 18, and left Shatina Garnette, 18, with fractures throughout her body and in critical condition at Schneider Hospital Sunday night.
The vehicle struck and threw one victim 30 feet into the bushes, where St. Thomas Rescue workers found her body, according to St. Thomas Rescue spokesman Dalis Walwyn.
The other young woman later died at Schneider Hospital, where the women were admitted at 5:35 a.m., according to Schneider Hospital interim Chief Executive Officer Angela Rennalls-Atkinson.
Police arrested the driver, Karen J. Williams, 33, at 6:30 a.m. and charged her with negligent homicide and driving under the influence.
The driver had minor injuries, said St. Thomas Deputy Chief Dwayne DeGraff.
The driver smelled of alcohol, police said.
The three victims had attended Kean High School. Garnette graduated in June 2011; Robles was an 11th-grader; and it is unclear when Wilson last attended the school.
Kean Principal Sharon McCollum visited the crash site Sunday afternoon and worked throughout the day with V.I. Human Services to bring three counselors to Kean's campus today, according to a statement issued Sunday by the V.I. Education Department.
- Contact reporter Michael Todd at 714-9104 or email mtodd@dailynews.vi.
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