By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

AN inquest into the 2024 traffic accident that killed three brothers was halted yesterday after the evidence marshall ruled there was insufficient material from traffic police.

Angelo Whitfield, the evidence marshall, asked Coroner Kara Turnquest Deveaux to suspend the proceedings into the deaths of 24-year-old Philip McCarron Christie, 23-year-old Philip D’Caprio Christie, and 20-year-old D’Angelo Christie.

The brothers died shortly after 2am on September 2, 2024, when a metallic grey Honda Passport crashed into a tree while travelling north on Sir Milo Butler Highway. Police said the 24-year-old driver and his 23-year-old passenger were trapped inside the vehicle. Fire Services used the jaws of life to free them, but EMS confirmed their deaths at the scene. The 20-year-old rear-seat passenger, taken to the hospital with serious injuries, later died.

Mr Whitfield said the evidence submitted by the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s traffic division was incomplete. He noted that investigators suspected a second vehicle was involved in the accident, and that its two occupants, along with 30 other witnesses, were interviewed, but none of those statements were filed.

He also said the brothers’ vehicle was never taken to a police compound for forensic testing. Instead, it was impounded at a private lot, and the victims’ mother, Lovan Christie, never recovered the car.

Mrs Christie told The Tribune in June she still struggled to cope with the loss of her sons, breaking down in tears whenever she looked at their belongings.

The inquest ended after only three days of testimony in late August. 

The case file was returned to the Commissioner of Police for further review, with instructions to resubmit it once stronger evidence is provided.