Email

Print

Cherisse Halsall was on the scene moments after the crash.

Neighbors on Loma Luz boulevard gathered his morning to witness the aftermath of a tragic road traffic accident that claimed a young life. His name was Kemel Espat, he was 27 years old, a bike enthusiast but also a loving son, brother, uncle, and boyfriend now lost to all those he's left behind. This morning on the scene we spoke to the driver who barely escaped the accident.

Rubina Diaz, Eyewitness
"It's nerve wracking because I didn't think he would come around me as I. I thought he was gonna wait or go the other way and right into that lady and into the post right there and right there he died instantly, it's sad."

"He should have stopped or gone around me the other way. He didn't go around me and I guess if he didn't overtake me he would have ran into me."

"You should have seen how his motorcycle when it hit she, you should have seen how that motorcycle hit that post and when it hit that post the motorcycle flipped and when he went that way his head went straight into the post that's laying down there. Right into that post his head went and that was it."

"I feel nervous because if he didn't do that then he would have hit me because I think he was going too fast, so he could have ran into me instead he went around me then I guess he missed that vehicle right there and then she wasn't going that fast either right because when I had on my signal she must have thought I would have turned so she slowed down but I don't know it's like really nerve wrecking."

Kemel's father is devastated. The young man had just left the house and was due back any minute when he got the news.

Francisco Javier Espat, Father of the deceased
"This morning he told me he was taking his girlfriend to work and I'm coming back right now he said because he used to always say bye but I told him don't say bye, say I'm coming back. This morning I blessed him and his girlfriend and they left. I was eating when my wife called and said I heard somebody with a red bike she said investigate to see if its Kemel. I said no I heard a bike coming up I didn't see who but I heard a bike coming up I said well he usually goes around and comes through this hill."

And while their father is battling his disbelief, Kemel's brother is sending a warning to other motorists with the hope that they can escape his brother's fate

Sondib Espat, Brother of the deceased
"We live two houses apart you know in the same yard. We were very close, any problem he had with anything he would consult me before our parents or anybody else. The way I know him is that he loved his bike and nothing would stop him from riding that bike, like anything that you love, you love your hobby."

"He loved his bike and nothing would stop him from getting on that bike, washing it everyday, fixing it up making it look the best and when you drive out there on the road you will have to drive for yourself and drive for others because I haven't really sank it in yet but I guess when we bury him then I will feel it more."

A family deprived of a loving and humorous young man coming together to mourn his passing. And this afternoon fighting tears Fransico Espat shared one of the last jokes he heard from Kemel

Francisco Javier Espat, Father of the deceased
"Last night we we're just talking about all those riders who crashed. He says you see one of them, a famous rider, he didn't crash with his motorcycle. He crashed with a bicycle. He said you see anybody can die anytime. But I didn't expect that he would have gone today. I even helped him buy the red one he crashed but he loved it so much, so I couldn't stop him. I told him to sell it and buy a car or something but no he loved it."

The family says that while Kemel had a need for speed they reject any notion that he could have been intoxicated as he had never been a drinker.