Lead Stories

Sheena Gayle, Gleaner Writer

Clifford Campbell, Jaman's stepfather. - photo by Sheena Gayle

WESTERN BUREAU:

"We were going to buy a cake for his birthday, that would've been January 1, but he didn't live to see his birthday or the new year," cried the stepfather of Jaman Morris.

The 13-year-old boy, who was mowed down by a bus in his home community of Amity Hall in St James on Monday, died at the Cornwall Regional Hospital.

"He was riding his bicycle to see his aunt when it happened. She wanted him to run an errand for her in downtown Montego Bay, so we were shocked when we heard a bus hit him and he was rushed to the hospital," his distraught stepfather, Clifford Campbell, recalled.

According to police reports, about 4 p.m. Morris was riding a bicycle along the roadway in Amity Hall when a Nissan Urvan minibus travelling in the opposite direction hit him. Morris received multiple injuries and was taken to hospital where he died while undergoing treatment.

Possible prosecution

The Amity Hall police have since warned the bus driver of possible prosecution.

Jaman, an eighth-grader at the Mount Salem Primary and Junior High, was looking forward to going back to school in January to see his friends. But the holidays have turned sour for his family which described him as a "playful and dependable big brother" who obeyed his elders.

Seemingly oblivious to the sorrow that fills the community, Jaman's younger siblings - a brother and two sisters - were as playful as if he was around.

"Him born pon a Monday and he died on a Monday," a tearful Campbell mumbled. "A mi grow dem like dem a mi own children. We never a expect this at all. Mi feel it man, mi feel it."

He added that Jaman was the eldest child for his mother and was dearly loved by the family.

sheena.gayle@gleanerjm.com