The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A voluntary bill of indictment was served on Travis Lamar Sawyer yesterday, the driver of the truck which mowed into a crowd during last year’s Labour Day parade, with some eight counts of causing harm by negligence being added to his list of charges.

That raises the number of charges against him to 12, which includes four counts of manslaughter by negligence stemming from the June 1, 2018 incident that killed four women and injured 24 people. The 23-year-old Silver Gates resident will appear before Justice Bernard Turner on February 15 for his formal arraignment.

Last September, Sawyer was charged before Acting Deputy Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain with negligently causing the deaths of 41-year-old Tabitha Haye, 48-year-old Tami Patrice Gibson, 51-year-old Kathleen Fernander and 55-year-old Dianna Gray-Ferguson.

Shortly after 10am on June 1, those taking part in the annual Labour Day parade were walking north on East Street in the vicinity of Shirley Street, when a green Ford F150 truck, which was a part of the parade, descended the hill towards Shirley Street.

The vehicle, which at the time had no driver according to initial reports from police, ran into a number of people who were a part of the parade, resulting in them receiving injuries. The vehicle came to a stop on hitting a Nissan vehicle, parked in a nearby parking lot.

Two people were pronounced dead at the scene, while 26 others were taken to hospital. Two women later died at the hospital, which was forced into mass casualty mode.

The driver of the truck was subsequently taken into custody.

Later that month, Justice Turner granted Sawyer $8,000 bail ahead of the service of his VBI. At the time, Justice Turner ordered Sawyer to report to the Central Police Station every Monday before 6pm until that time.