Domestic dispute in SUV leads to fatal crash in Old Harbour

The deceased has been identified as 55-year-old Steve Morgan, a resident of Bodles Crescent, Old Harbour, St. Catherine, the police have confirmed. 

The incident occurred sometime after 10 o’clock this morning along the Old Harbour Bay road in the vicinity of the New Harbour Village housing schemes.

Information is that Morgan, who operates a small shop and bar in his community, was driving towards the Old Harbour town centre when a Mitsubishi SUV coming from the opposite direction slammed into his Nissan Bluebird motor car.

Morgan died on the spot. It is understood that both male and female occupants of the SUV suffered no serious injury as a result of the accident. However, they were taken to the hospital where they are being treated for stab wounds inflicted on each other.

The police said the crash manifested from a longstanding domestic dispute between the couple.

“In a situation like this that end like that we are just begging people to come and talk to the police, they can even call me at 876 832 9082,” DSP Damion Manderson, commander in charge of Old Harbour police sub-division, told Old Harbour News. “We have a process that the system has provided and we have added to that. So we don’t need to have things end up like this at all.”

Responding to further queries by Old Harbour News, DSP Manderson said “it’s a possibility” that the couple might collectively be charged for manslaughter irrespective of who was driving at the time of the fatal crash.

“It is a possibility that both can be charged for manslaughter,” he said. “But there are a number of things that the detectives would have to analyze first from the investigation before forming any conclusion.”

At Bodles Crescent – popularly known as Burn Ground – Derrick Morgan, brother of the deceased, said the younger sibling was a gentle soul.

“Steve is a very calm and easy going person,” he told Old Harbour News. “He’s always willing to help people in need. People get sick and don’t have anybody to help them and Steve lock up his shop and bring them to hospital and stay there until the next morning. He’s just that kind of person, always willing to help people.”

Derrick, said their mother “is taking it very hard” at the moment, while noting that Steve, who has a twin brother, is the second of 13 siblings to have died in the family.