A 24-year-old woman has denied the killing of a cyclist by dangerous driving and a drink driving charge.
Katherine Lopez pleaded not guilty in Grand Court to causing the death of Tara Bahadur Shrestha, who was 22, and denied a further charge of causing death while driving under the influence of alcohol.
It is alleged Lopez’s Honda HRV hit Shrestha, originally from Nepal, as he cycled on the Esterley Tibbetts Highway in the early hours of Saturday 7 Dec. 2024.
Shrestha, who had been in Cayman for only a few months, was rushed to hospital but later pronounced dead by doctors.
He worked for George Town-based H&A Janitorial and was contracted out to Agua restaurant in Camana Bay, where he was in the entry-level role of dishwasher.
Lopez, of West Bay, was ordered by Justice Cheryll Richards to appear for trial on Monday, 1 Jun. and her bail was continued.
In a separate case at the Friday, 6 Feb Grand Court session, Kent Rankine Sr. denied a string of charges related to an incident where a cyclist died and another was injured.
It is alleged Rankine’s Cadillac Escalade SUV hit two cyclists on Frank Sound Road at about 9:30pm on 28 Mar. 2023, killing 23-year-old father of one Daniel McFarlane and seriously injuring the other.
Rankine, who was 47 at the time, pleaded not guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, and to an alternative charge of causing death by careless driving.
He also denied causing grievous bodily harm to the other cyclist, conspiracy to defeat justice by obstruction of the police investigation into the death of McFarlane and causing death by dangerous driving while disqualified.
Richards set a trial date for 25 May and continued Rankine’s bail.
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