Home News Local news St. John Boy Dies in Saturday Vehicle Accident

St. John Boy Dies in Saturday Vehicle Accident

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An early morning single-vehicle accident Saturday left one St. John boy dead, another passenger in critical condition, another with a head injury, and two others without injuries.

The accident caused a several-hour power outage in Coral Bay and other portions of St. John.

Elvis Smith Jr., 16, died when the 1995 Honda Accord in which he was a passenger went off Centerline Road in the vicinity of the Colombo Yogurt stand at 4:56 a.m. The eastbound car hit a utility pole on the northern side of the road, V.I. Police Department Public Information Officer Melody Rames said.

“He was a sweet child,” his cousin, Lorelei Monsanto, said, adding that he was always quick to give her a hug.

According to Rames, Smith was sitting in the middle of the rear seat. She said the other two injured passengers were also in the back seat.

She said two of the passengers were 22 years old, and the driver was 26. She didn’t have an age for the passenger in critical condition. The names of the surviving passengers were not made public.

Rames said the cause of the accident remains under investigation.

St. John Rescue training officer Bob Malacarne said emergency responders extricated passengers from the car using the Fire Service Jaws of Life.

“The first one we pulled out was non responsive, had no pulse and was in cardiac arrest,” Malacarne said.

Malacarne said St. John Rescue transported him to Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center while doing CPR. He said Smith was pronounced dead at the Health Center. The others in the car were transported by Emergency Medical Service and Rescue, he said.

Suki Buchalter lives near the crash site. She said something woke her up but it wasn’t until after the emergency vehicles began to arrive that she realized something was wrong.

“I could see the car off the road,” she said.

Malacarne said the response was a joint effort from Fire, EMS, St. John Rescue, and the VIPD. A nurse happened on the scene and assisted with CPR while transporting the deceased to Myrah Keating, Malacarne added.

“That is what St John is all about- neighbors helping neighbors.

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