Driver Gets 12-Months for Deadly 2018 Labour Day Crash

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A man who killed four people and wounded eight others in a tragic crash during the 2018 Labour Day Parade has been jailed for 12 months. 

Twenty-seven-year-old Travis Sawyer was sentenced Friday when he appeared before Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hilton.

Sawyer pleaded guilty to four counts of manslaughter by negligence and eight counts of negligently causing harm in relation to the June 1, 2018 incident last August.

He was allowed to remain on bail pending sentencing.

Sawyer’s negligence caused 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.

Annabelle Gibson, Allez Lightbourne, Christine Adderley, Kimberlin Johnson, Kyren Johnson, Makeba Ford, Ruth Stuart and Philippa Forbes were also injured.

Sawyer, who was on the parade with his mother,  got out of the Ford F-150 truck that he was driving on East Street and started dancing in the street.

The unmanned vehicle rolled down the hill and plowed into the crowd, in spite of Sawyer’s efforts to regain control of the truck.

Following the crash, Sawyer helped in the rescue efforts. He broke down in tears after releasing that there were fatalities.

He remained on the scene until he was arrested and taken to the Central Police Station.