The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

A PRISON officer was arrested in a hit-and-run investigation that left a 29-year-old father of two dead after he was struck so hard he was thrown into the air, according to relatives.

Kareem Williams died on Thursday, days after he was hit on East Bay Street last Sunday.

Friends said Williams was meeting team mates at a bar after finishing a flag football game. As he got out of his vehicle to open the passenger door for a friend, a car that was reportedly speeding and switching lanes struck him.

Police said officers responded to a traffic collision on East Bay Street on March 15 involving a vehicle and two pedestrians. Investigators said a man had exited a black Nissan Note parked along the southern lane of the road and was walking to help a female passenger when both were struck by a white vehicle travelling east. The driver did not remain at the scene.

Emergency Medical Services took Williams and a 23-year-old woman to hospital. Williams, who suffered severe head injuries, fought for his life before dying on Thursday.

Officers from the Mobile Division later arrested a 25-year-old man and recovered the suspected vehicle on an unnamed road in the Kennedy Subdivision. The Tribune confirmed the suspect is a prison officer.

Preston Moss, a member of Team Red Dot, said he received a voice message in the team’s group chat saying Williams had been hit as teammates tried to follow the vehicle.

Mr Moss said they were unable to stop the driver, but a bystander who saw the incident followed the vehicle. He said the driver sped off, at times appearing to check whether anyone was behind him.

Mr Moss said teammates quickly called an ambulance and later gathered at Princess Margaret Hospital with Williams’s relatives and coach.

“Pretty much praying and hoping that he could pull through,” Mr Moss said. “A number of our teammates was just waiting in the parking lot, sitting with our coach after they visited him.”

On Friday evening, the Bahamas Flag Football League held a moment of silence for Williams at the DW Davis field. Many people were visibly emotional before kneeling in tribute.

Vernon Chandler II said he had known Williams for 15 years, first through the Football Association and later in the flag football league. He described him as optimistic and full of joy.

“He was always pushing you to your limits and wanted you to be the best person that you could be,” Mr Chandler said.

“Having some downfalls and he still rose to the occasion to show what type of man he is, along with principle, respect and honour.”

Williams was an entrepreneur who did contractual electrical work. He leaves behind two children.

His teammates are seeking donations to help his family with funeral expenses.