Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer

Moesha McKoy was killed by a motor vehicle last Saturday in Bonnet district, St. Catherine.

SPANISH TOWN, St. Catherine:

Moesha McKoy did not know she wouldn't use the two books purchased for her to go to school. A motor vehicle accident cut short her life just two days before she was scheduled to return to class.

As a Gleaner news team took the trek to Bonnet district near Guy's Hill, St. Catherine, where Moesha lived, her mother Heloise Kelly related her dilemma.

"It was (last week) Thursday that I bought the integrated science book and another book for her to go to school. And it is so sad that a vehicle killed her right before my eyes, and it's hurting to know that she will not be using the books," Ms. Kelly said.

Kelly, 37, with tears running down her cheeks, related how her daughter and another girl were standing on an embankment on Saturday, September 15, when a Chevrolet pickup truck rode the embankment, mowing them down.

Kelly, who had a distant look in her eyes, said she was the one who pulled her daughter's mangled body from the wreckage of the vehicle, a reality she is yet to accept.

"I do not believe she is dead, it can't happen," she said.

A void left

As the team proceeded to Bonnet Primary School where Moesha attended, her seat was still unoccupied, and teachers at the institution told The Gleaner that even when it's occupied, the void she has left in their hearts will never be filled.

Principal Doreen Gordon pointed to the empty chair and gave the irony of the sadness surrounding the death of the 10-year-old.

"The girl who sits next to her is her best friend, and it is her father who is now in custody for the death of Moesha. Things are not going well at school and this girl has lost a friend and potentially a father, and she is emotionally shattered."

All this time the child kept staring into space while pulling at one of her fingers, as if overwhelmed by confusion.

Other students and teachers at the 40-year-old institution spoke of the jovial Moesha who was an avid drummer and dancer at the school, and whose untimely passing has left a pall of gloom over the institution.

According to class teacher Veronica Greenland, the reality of what occurred has impacted significantly on the school's population. She said that having heard about the death of little Moesha, school could not be kept on Monday. She said Moesha always expressed an interest in teaching or medicine.

The Guy's Hill police have confirmed that the driver of the ill-fated motor vehicle, Benton Garriques, a mason, has been formally charged with manslaughter arising from the death of the 10-year-old.

It was revealed that Garriques was speeding when he lost control, rode the embankment, killing Moesha on the spot while injuring a 13-year-old who, incidentally, is his cousin.

Heloise Kelly, mother of Moesha McKoy, holds the two books she had purchased for her daughter to use at school. - Photos by Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer