Sugar Ray Thomas
Questions are still being raised about what happened before that tragic collision that left a St Mary woman and her boyfriend dead in St Ann last week Wednesday.The couple, both university students in Kingston, was believed to be in a good mood as the male was actually on the way to a new job he had landed in Runaway Bay. However some reports claim they were fighting in the car before it smashed into a Coaster bus, killing them both along the Drax Hall main road in St. Ann on Wednesday night, August 26. Family and friends dispute those allegations.Dead are 22-year-old Shanice Simmonds of Cromwelland, Highgate, St. Mary and twenty-three-year-old O’Shane Reid of Bird Street, Kingston 4.Both were involved in an intimate relationship. The two were students of the University of the West Indies (UWI), where Reid was a second-year communication Masters Degree student at CARIMAC, Mona, and a former Guild of Students’ public relations officer and vice president. Simmonds studied the humanities, and was set to complete her first degree this year with two additional courses remaining.
SHE WAS DRIVING
Reports from the traffic police are that at around 8:20 Wednesday night, August 26, Simmonds was driving her black Suzuki swift motor car on route to Runaway Bay with Reid as a passenger. While the car was travelling west on the Drax Hall main road, it swung into the path of a 2013 Toyota Coaster bus travelling in the opposite direction on route to Ocho Rios from Montego Bay. The car was severely damaged which resulted in Reid and Simmonds being pinned down in the vehicle. Both had to be cut from the vehicle and were rushed to the St. Ann’s Bay Hospital where they died while undergoing treatment.
All the occupants of the Coaster bus were taken to the hospital. However, they were treated for minor injuries and released.
Allegations of an altercation
A source attached to the St Ann police informed The Times that they have learned that there could have been an altercation between Simmonds and Reid as the motor car travelled from Ocho Rios heading towards Drax Hall. The car was reportedly observed swinging from one side of the road as it travelled along the roadway, minutes before the accident. It is also being theorized that the altercation could have been physical that could have resulted in the car ‘swinging’.
However, the officer investigating in the case, Corporal Galloway explained on Monday, that those reports of an altercation are allegations and investigations are still on going into the accident as there are no new developments at this time.
LOVING COUPLE
Manager for the Guild of students at UWI, Jovaughn Neil, explained to The Times that the university community is shocked at the death of Shanice Simmonds and O’Shane Reid who he said were very jovial and promising. Both were social media gurus, he explained, with Reid being very popular.Mr. Neil however expressed his doubts about aspects of the police reports in the media that allege that Simmonds and Reid were possibly engaging in any physical fight in the car. “They (Simmonds and Reid) were friends for a while but I think that they have been together for a couple of months… O’Shane wasn’t that kind of a person though (to fight). He didn’t believe in or support physical abuse of women. He would tell you he was a lover and not a fighter,” he explained.
NEW JOB
Reid had secured a job to take up a management position at Club Jamaica Gaming Lounge in Runaway Bay, St. Ann. He had passed an interview and was on his way to the gaming lounge with Shanice on the night of the accident. A room had been prepared there for him to stay. He was to take up his position as manager on Monday.A relative of the family of Shanice Simmonds, who wished to remain unidentified, expressed that the family was going through a very difficult time. “It’s a very difficult time for all of us right now. Her mother is not taking it so easy. We are all trying to understand what happened. Shanice was fun-loving, always smiling and always happy,” the relative explained. Shanice had two siblings.
POTENTIAL FOR GREATNESS
The twenty-two-year-old young woman is said to have possessed the potential for greatness from her early days as a student at the Marymount High School in St. Mary, where she spent five years of her education. She moved on to St. Mary High School, where she completed her sixth form studies.
The relative did express his shock at the allegations made from police reports and in the media that Simmonds and Reid were involved in an argument in her car that may have resulted in their untimely death. “She had rented an apartment in Ocho Rios, where Reid was staying following his job interview. The camera footage (at the apartment) showed that they were quite happy when they were leaving the apartment to go to Runaway Bay. I’m not sure how the police got that information, because the windows of the car she drove were always up, so how could someone see what was going on inside to allege that they may have been arguing or fighting?” questioned the relative.The family had known Reid and the family member said that Shanice and the young man had become close. “The police have made no contact with family members as far as I am aware, so I want to know where the investigation is really taking place,” the relative of Shanice claimed.As police investigations continue, a search is on to find out the answers into what happened minutes before the crash that led to the death of a promising St. Mary woman, Shanice Simmonds and her boyfriend.
