Grief grips St Philip as two die in separate road crashes

Two men were killed within half an hour of each other in separate road collisions in St Philip and Christ Church on Sunday, leaving relatives and neighbours reeling in grief.

Clifton “Frankie” Franklyn is grappling with profound sorrow following the death of 30‑year‑old Roland Arthur, whom he described as “the son I never had” and a young man with a bright future ahead of him.

Arthur died in a road collision a short distance from his home around 3:45 p.m. on Sunday along Crane Road, St Philip. He was riding a bicycle and collided with a van. According to police, both the cyclist and the motorist were travelling in the direction of Rices when the accident occurred. Arthur sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigations are continuing.

Arthur was the second road fatality that day. Police reported another incident along Searles Road, at its junction with Leadvale, Christ Church. Around 3:18 p.m., a motorcycle and a van collided. The motorcyclist, Edzii Edinboro, 54, of 40 Coral Cliff, Bottom Bay, St Philip, was transported to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Franklyn, who became a father figure to Arthur over the course of four years, spoke with deep emotion about the young man he held in high regard.

“He was a very nice boy. He would speak to everybody from out here and ask them how they are going; but he would mostly keep to himself,” the elderly man said, sitting on a bench outside his Crane home.

“I put him in a house, my family house out to the front. I loved him; he was like my son.”  

Franklyn recalled the moment he learned of the tragedy.

“Last night (Sunday night) I got a phone call… since then I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t sleep for the whole night after I see him. I keep studying how he was — how he was ball up there and on his face facing down…. I last saw him Saturday, he wanted something to rub his foot and I went and gave him.”

He remembered Arthur’s character and ambitions. “He just hold a job at the airport the other day… he is a very bright boy, very good with his hands… he wanted to go away and play basketball… He really was a good guy. All people through here can tell that he was nothing but good.”

For Franklyn, the loss is deeply personal. “I don’t have a son of my own. I know him through his mother and through the rest of his brothers… I will miss him.”

Arthur did not have any children, Franklyn said.