Killed on Jamaican 'drag strip' of death
Man, 26, mowed down in front of his family

Wednesday, February 11, 2009
By TOM SHORTELL
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A family gathering in a Jamaican beach resort town to celebrate an elder's birthday earlier this month turned into nightmare when a 26-year-old man raised in Jersey City was run down and killed by a drag racer, according to family members.

Justin Holland was visiting Negril, Jamaica, with 22 friends and family members to celebrate his mother Carole's birthday.

Shortly after midnight Feb. 1, he was waiting on a grassy patch to cross Norman Manley Boulevard, said Holland's father, Marvin. When a car stopped to let him pass, a second car sped around the stopped car, drove onto the grassy patch on the side of the road and struck Holland, killing him instantly, the father said.

Marvin Holland, of Howard Place in Jersey City, said it took police based in Savanna La Mar, a city about 15 miles away, two hours to respond to the accident.

"That was the worst part," said Marvin, who was close enough to hear his son hit by the speeding car. "Him laying in a ditch for two hours with people taking pictures; me trying to keep my family under control."

Patricia Attkisson, public affairs officer for the U.S. Embassy, said the embassy hasn't been able to get hold of the police report. Phone calls by The Jersey Journal to Savanna La Mar police were not answered.

Attkisson said Monday the drag racer, identified by the Hollands as Owen Derreck Smith, was to appear at a court hearing in Jamaica yesterday. She did not know what charges the driver faced.

Family members said they've learned that it's not uncommon for cars to strike pedestrians on Norman Manley Boulevard.

Holland said locals told them the road, lined with resorts and restaurants, is also popular for drag races because there are no speed bumps or guard rails.

Holland, 46, said he and other family members plan to push Jamaican officials to add basic safety conditions to the road to ensure an accident like this doesn't happen again.

"We're going to work hard. No family has to go through what we're going through, whether it's tourists or local people. We feel for them too if this is what they have to go through every day," he said.

The family has started an on-line petition to attract attention to the road's conditions that, as of yesterday, 529 people have signed.

Justin Holland's wake is scheduled for today from 2 to 9 p.m. at Vanella's Funeral Chapel, 29 Madison St., in Manhattan. His funeral will be tomorrow from 10 a.m. to noon at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church, 290 Henry St., Manhattan.