Channah Connor, the 22-year-old niece of Deputy Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, has been named as the victim in the fatal single-vehicle collision on Shamrock Road in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Police said Connor, of Bodden Town, was the lone occupant in the vehicle at the time of the incident.
O’Connor-Connolly and family members of the woman have declined to comment at this time.
The crash occurred just after 1:30am on Shamrock Road, in the vicinity of Coral Bay Village, George Town.
Police said it appeared that the vehicle was travelling in the westbound lane when Connor lost control, leaving the roadway and hitting a wall.
Premier Wayne Panton, speaking on Radio Cayman’s For the Record programme Monday morning, described Connor as a “nice person” saying that it was “really difficult, really upsetting… it always is” to see the loss of such a young life, with so much potential.
He extended his condolences to the Connor and Grizzel family as well as to the deputy premier before he started his interview on government radio.
Panton lamented the loss of “another beautiful, young Caymanian” to the scourge of traffic accidents.
“It hurts all of us and, certainly, particularly for those who have lost loved ones like that. We know all too well how real the pain is. It’s a life-changing situation, but this one in particular, obviously, is even closer to home in the sense that this is my deputy premier’s niece,” he said.
Panton encouraged the community to be careful on the roads and exercise courtesy while driving.
He pointed to the 15 road deaths last year and the high number of individuals who received injuries due to crashes in 2022.
“We’ve had difficulties with the traffic accidents, and that’s something that we have to avoid. Last year, we had something like 15 people lose their lives on Cayman’s roads. We can’t, we can’t, repeat that again,” he said.
Police said traffic investigators are seeking information on the circumstances of this latest incident. Witnesses are being encouraged to call the Traffic and Roads Policing Unit at 649-6254 or the George Town Police Station at 949-4222.
Alternatively, anonymous tips can be provided directly to the RCIPS confidential tip line at 949-7777, or via its website.
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