A First Responder’s Shocking Discovery at Crash Scene

Police are investigating a deadly crash along the Philip Goldson Highway that claimed the life of thirty year old Darynl Humes early Saturday morning. Officers believe alcohol may have been a factor in the collision near the Tubal Trade School. But this tragedy cut especially deep when one of the first responders arrived at the scene, Humes’ own sister, a nurse, only to make a heartbreaking discovery. News Five’s Shane Williams has that story.

 

Shane Williams, Reporting

Just minutes from home, thirty‑year‑old Darynl Humes never made it back. The BATSUB employee was driving north along the Philip Goldson Highway when his vehicle collided with a Ford Explorer near the Tubal Trade and Vocational School shortly after three Saturday morning. But for the Humes family, the heartbreak went far beyond the crash itself. As emergency crews rushed to the scene, help arrived from an unexpected place: Humes’ own sister. Fresh off a long shift, the nurse stopped to assist, only to discover the fatally injured man was her brother. It’s a moment the close‑knit family says is almost too painful to relive.

 

Brenda Ireland, Mother of Deceased

“His sister was coming in and the police stop her and they tell her that I asked again to stop in and she need to come around and she was turning around and then something tell her to turn and she tell them, ‘I am a nurse, I could assist until ambulance come.’ And when she looks, she see the female on the ground. So they let her come in and she went and attend to the female and then they told her that there’s another person in the vehicle also. But in that other vehicle there’s a deceased. So she went and she attended the two person with who had life and she was going back to her vehicle, she turn and she peep into the vehicle that the police said there’s a deceased. And when she peep into the vehicle, she said it was her brother. She said that it was her brother and she jumped through the window because the vehicle door couldn’t open the impact. She never conscious realized that it was her brother’s vehicle. And she jumped through the window and she jump in, no pulse. She hold her brother and she couldn’t deal with it. She can’t deal with it. It’s something she would never forget. Every time she close her eyes, she see it and she had to call us.”

 

His father Horace Humes says the family is still trying to come to terms with the sudden loss.

 

Horace Humes Sr., Father of Deceased

“Very hard mein, ih hard. Cause my son, like she says he da mi one of the quietest. Even his BATSUM family, you know how many post and thing we get from them?  Oh man, even one guy come and say boy be and Darynl just had a lee beer yesterday da work. Ih boss come ya yesterday ih say bwai Mr Humes I da Darynl boss Mr. Wade. Yeah, he said and Darynl was one of his best workers. He say when they go to Mountain Pine Ridge da one of them military place, he said Darynl had to mi de pan ih team. He said Darynl was so humble. He said he never see Darynl get upset and anything you ask Darynl to do, Darynl do.  So it hit hard mein. It hit hard.”

 

Humes leaves behind two young children, ages four and six, who are now without their father. His mother, Brenda Ireland, says the loss has left a void that cannot be filled.

 

Brenda Ireland

“I never thought it would hit home. It’s, and the funny thing. At that hour, the night, it is so quiet and I wasn’t sleeping. I was up waiting for my son, and that accident happened and I never even hear a song. I never hear a bang. I never hear a siren, nothing. Other times accident happened out there and we heard everything, but I never heard nothing at night. I have to be there for his two little baby. I have to watch them every day, grow up without a dad. And it’s not by, it’s not because of his choice, because he would never leave his two baby. He is one of the best loving dad you could ever have, where he’s so young. He has his job and he come home and has a job here because he help with his two kids.”

 

Alcohol may have played a role in the crash. At the Ladyville Police Station, where officers impounded the vehicles, beer cans were visible inside the Ford Explorer. Police say, however, that early findings suggest Humes may have drifted into oncoming traffic.

 

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“The officers responded to the scene of the incident and upon their arrival they observed a Ford Explorer and a Ford Escape, both of which exhibited extensive damage. Observed in the Ford Escape, was an unconscious male person who was later learned to be Mr. Humes. Also observed on the scene of the accident where Laura Budna and Eric Tillett, both of whom were traveling on board the Ford Explorer and they too had injuries to their body. These persons were transported to the hospital for medical attention. Whilst Budna is listed in a critical condition and Tillett in a stable condition, Humes succumbed to the injuries that he sustained in the accident. A review of the scene of the accident suggests that Humes who was on board the Ford Escape, was traveling from the direction of Belize City to Orange Walk and the other vehicle in opposite direction. Due to the fact that the collision occurred in the left lane when heading in another direction, it is suspected that the Ford Escape veered into the other lane resulting in the collision.”

 

Shane Williams

“Can you speak to discovery found in the Explorer. There were alcoholic beverage found in the Explorer?”

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“Yes. I can confirm that the investigating officer reported that a number of alcoholic beverages were found in the Explorer. What I was advised is that those persons were coming from an establishment and they were taking back the unsold beverages and there was a crate and numerous bottles indicating that.”

 

Tillett remains in stable condition, but his passenger, Laura Budna, is fighting for her life at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Police continue to investigate the fatal crash and are urging drivers to slow down, warning that reckless driving has them responding to nearly two traffic accidents every day. Shane Williams for News Five.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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