Mother of Five Perishes in Motorcycle Crash in Belmopan

Just two days after the tragic loss of Police Constable Arcenio Cus in a motorcycle accident, heartbreak strikes again, this time in Belmopan. A mother of five, Marilyn Roches, has lost her life in another devastating motorcycle crash. She was riding with her partner when he reportedly lost control and slammed into a drain. The impact left her with fatal facial injuries. It’s a sobering reminder of how quickly lives can be changed, or lost, on our roads. News Five’s Britney Gordon has the story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Tonight, a home once filled with the laughter of children and the warmth of a mother’s love is now cloaked in grief. The family of thirty-four-year-old Marilyn Roches, a mother of five, is mourning her sudden and tragic death. Around 2:30 a.m., Marilyn was killed in a motorcycle accident along South Ring Road in Belmopan, right in front of Comprehensive High School. She was riding with her partner when the crash happened. Now, questions are being asked, and the Commissioner of Police, Dr. Richard Rosado, has more on what led to this tragic loss.

 

Dr. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police

“When approaching the front of Belmopan Comprehensive School, the driver of the motorcycle, lost control of the motorcycles resulting in a fatal injury of Ms. Roches.”

 

Reporter

“Was specimen was taken?”

 

Dr. Richard Rosado

“Yes, specimen was taken, and the matter is under investigation. I do believe that he was to issue with a notice of intended prosecution pending the outcome of the investigation.”

 

Roches was found lying across the drain with a large cut on the center of her forehead. Her sister, Gwendolyn Roches, recalls the moment she got the devastating phone call.

 

Gwendolyn Roches, Sister of Deceased

“I mi on duty. I mi about fi report off duty/. So I was still uniformed and about to leave the compound when I get the call. And me being a person weh no like ansa call, I almost ignore the call. I ansa and ney ask me my name and basically clarify if da me. Ney broke the news to me. Again, being her go-to person, it hit me hard. And me being the baby if the family, the one weh everybody always the check pan. So now knowing that she wa neva call me again and ask me how I di do, it’s nerve wracking.”

 

Marilyn’s death comes as a heavy loss to her family, particularly her five kids, the youngest of whom is just five years old. Roches says her sister wasn’t perfect, but when it came to her children, her love ran deep and unwavering.

 

Gwendolyn Roches

“Selfless. Selfless. I mean if da fi she ast, we ah get it. She da mi all for her kids. Ih mi like party so dat da mi our biggest problem with ah, She neva wa give up wa party. Yiu know, she mi about fi be wa granny, Her daughter pregnant and this mi wa be her first grandchild. So we mi excited fi she as muh as she mi excited fi ihself. But ih da mi wa selfless person. Like she woulda guve up ih last fi any bidy and she had a lot if energy. I woulda seh the most outta all ah we.”

 

Investigations reveal that Roches was not wearing a helmet at the time for death, a fact that deepens the pain her family is currently feeling as they Marilyn loved to travel at high speeds.

 

Gwendolyn Roches

“Worldwide anybody weh know she, she da mi di crazy one outta the sixteen ah we weh mi born. When I hear the cycle mi di go very fast, dat da something she mi wa enjoy. We get comfort from knowing, we woulda seh, ih live ih best moments. Because she da wa driver as well. She drive bus, dumptruck, she drive. Anything you put she fronta, we di talk bout from ninja bike. If she could buck speed limit. So I know that ih very last moment, ih mi di have fun.”

 

Marilyn was just a few months away from becoming the first-time grandmother.  Now her family is banding together to offer each other support as they grieve their loss and prepare to welcome a new life to the world. Britney Gordon for News Five.