September has seen four young lives lost to motorcycle accidents. The most recent of those incidents occurred on Friday night and took the life of 16-year-old Miguel Maldonado. The teenager was headed out of Unitedville to visit a friend when he was hit by a vehicle.
He follows a tragic and terrifying trend of teenagers who have gotten into fatal accidents while riding motorcycles. In his case, he hadn't even been riding that long.
Courtney Menzies went west to speak with his family. Here is that story.
16-year-old Miguel Maldonado is the fourth teenager to die in less than two weeks as a result of a motorcycle accident. In this case, according to police, it was a vehicle that took his life:
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED
"On Friday the 20th day of September 2024, there was a fatal road traffic accident at Unitedville. Police visited the area where they saw a Toyota Corolla car and a motorcycle extensively damaged. Information is that the driver of the motorcycle is one Miguel Maldonado, 16 years. He was taken to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The driver of the Toyota Corolla car was Donovan Tzib, a urine sample was taken, NIP served and an investigation is being carried out at this time."
Reporter
"What's the circumstances surrounding the...?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED
"The pickup hit the motorcycle causing Miguel Maldonado to fall and received injuries."
His brother explained that he was headed to his friend's house - and that he was supposed to go with him.
Anderson Gabriel, Brother of Deceased
"In the night he was going to our friend's on a motorcycle, he is in Cayo, and I was going to go with him but I stayed home and he said he's going to the gas station to get gas. So I was at home and they called me and told me that he crashed into a car."
And while Maldonado wasn't old enough to have a driver's license, he was already working, and recently got the motorcycle.
Anderson Gabriel, Brother of Deceased
"He was working in Teakettle. The name of his work is Soluna Farm."
Courtney Menzies:
"Do you guys use motorcycles a lot?"
Anderson Gabriel, Brother of Deceased
"Not really."
Courtney Menzies:
"Has he been riding for a long time though?"
Anderson Gabriel, Brother of Deceased
"No, I think 5 months."
And Maldonado is missed by the village, especially since, according to his brother, he made many friends.
Anderson Gabriel, Brother of Deceased
"We go to work, come back, and sometimes we go to play football in the field, sometimes I would go with him on the motorcycle and go by our friends to visit them."
"He was a person who works good and he had a lot of friends."
The first accident occurred on September 8th, taking the life of 19 year old Tamisha Jeal. A few days later, 18 year old Alvin Guardado was killed, and then a little over a week ago, 19 year old Amand Arana lost his life in another accident.
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