Fatal Accident in Hopkins; Was Speeding a Factor?
Makaya Magdaleno
Residents of Hopkins Village are reeling from a fatal traffic accident that claimed the life of six-year-old Makaya Magdaleno. The little girl had just left home on Main Street and was heading to her sister’s house in the southern part of the community when a gas truck from Lucas Gas Company knocked her down. The incident happened just as Makaya had turned into Karuba North Main Street. Police have impounded the vehicle, and issued a Notice of Intended Prosecutions to the driver, who has still not been charged. News Five’s Marion Ali brings you the story.
Marion Ali, Reporting
The spot in yellow paint shows exactly where six-year-old Makaya Magdaleno fell and died on the pavement, when she was knocked down in Hopkins Village. It happened about hundred feet away from where she lived. Nelson Martinez was a short distance away from the area and was first on the scene.
Nelson Martinez
Nelson Martinez, First Responder
“I saw when the truck was turning but I never noticed that someone was hit until I reached closer, you know. I saw the body land down on the roadside, you know, and her bike was right beside her.”
Martinez said he recognized that the victim was his friend’s little girl and that he had just seen him at the shop moments earlier. He told us that he turned back to give him the bad news.
Nelson Martinez
“As I see her, I conscious that the one Rocka daughter and I just come from by Castillo’ Store come buy and I see Rocka deh. So when I see his daughter pahn the ground, I literally turn back and I drive back by Castillo’s Store and I tell Rocka that dehn just knocked down one of his daughter. She dead.”
The gripping news was too much for Gilroy Magdaleno, who could only accompany us to the scene where his daughter drew her last breath. Makaya’s older sister, Zaida, told us that she had just gone to the beach when a friend called to inform her about what had happened.
Zaida Magdaleno
Zaida Magdaleno, Sister of deceased
“I get to a call from a young lady, the young lady seh hurry come, your sister just dead. Like, I said, what? Is that an accident or something? She said your sister just dead. I seh unu nuh serious. Then like minutes after – two minutes after, like, five different people di call me. So I di scream pahn the beach, and I start running bare feet. And I just jump eena wa young man car and say, please, hurry, ker mi pahn the north. I want to see what happened. I can’t believe it. I scream. I cry. I don’t even know what to do at that time. So when I reach by, like, Close to Castillo store. I see what crowd.”
When Zaida arrived at the scene, she saw her little sister lying on the pavement. The impact had flung the little girl face down on the street. Hopkins police have impounded the gas truck and have detained the driver, forty-nine-year-old Alwyn Buezo, pending investigations. Buezo has been served with a Notice of Intended Prosecution.
Meanwhile, Zaida Magdaleno says her little sister had just gotten the bicycle she was riding and that she enjoyed taking rides around the neighborhood on it. But there were other activities that the six-year-old did during her summer break from Holy Family R.C School.
Zaida Magdaleno
“She have a special barbie dolly where he love play with. He bathe the dolly for hours eena the bathroom. Ih ma tell ah stop waste the water with the dolly. She’s a very happy person.”
The family is planning a vigil at the scene where little Makaya lost her life. Marion Ali for News Five.
