Marvin Minns Jr (left) and Renaldo Grant outside court. Photo: Donavan McIntosh
By FARRAH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
THE captains of two vessels involved in a tragic accident that claimed the lives of three people last week were charged on Friday with manslaughter by negligence.
Marvin Minns Jr, 30, and Renaldo Grant, 33, appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt after they were accused of causing the deaths of Leanna Cartwright, Candice McDonald and Jose Roberts Jr by negligence on March 14.
The men were also accused of causing grievous harm to Rozette Carey and Shaquelle Cash on the same day.
Prosecutors said Grant was operating a Boston Whaler seacraft without a licence at the time of the accident.
Minns Jr on the other hand, was said to have been driving a ferry.
According to initial police reports, sometime after 9pm, the captain of a 28-ft Bertram vessel, which was being used as a ferry, said he was travelling to Man Island when he heard and felt a loud bang. Police said the man assumed his vessel had hit a rock, but later realised that it had in fact collided with a 17-ft Boston Whaler.
“The passengers on the Boston Whaler were ejected into the water,” police reported. “Officers from the Harbour Island police station led a search and rescue party to the scene of the accident. Investigations determined that eight people were on board the Boston Whaler and three people on the Bertram.
“The captain and passengers on the Bertram were all accounted for. The rescue team found seven people that were on board the Boston Whaler. They include: two women who were pronounced dead at the Harbour Island medical facility, two females who were airlifted to New Providence and a male and two females (who) were treated and discharged.”
The third body was found on March 15.
During the hearing on Friday, Minns Jr and Grant were not required to enter pleas to the charges. As a result, the magistrate remanded both men to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until March 24 to determine the issue of bail.
However, on Friday the attorneys representing the men filed emergency bail applications for their clients in the Supreme Court.
They will appear before the magistrate again next week.
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