MANCHESTER, Jamaica — A man died as a result of injuries he sustained in a two-vehicle crash on the Winston Jones Highway near Mandeville on Monday morning.

Relatives named him as Carl Gayle, 47, a graphic artist and resident of New Green in Manchester.

Preliminary reports are that about 3:00 am Gayle was driving a Nissan AD Wagon uphill towards Mandeville when the vehicle crashed into a tractor trailer which was also traveling uphill.

Gayle and a female passenger sustained injuries. They were taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead and the woman admitted for treatment.

His brother, Conrad Gayle, told Observer Online that Carl was traveling home from a party in Banana Ground near Bellefield when the crash happened.

“I got a call minutes after 3:00 am about him being in an accident here on the Winston Jones Highway. I am a bit shaken over the whole incident. I am grieving, because when you know a man with such talent. He was just finding himself to breakthrough in life and to just see his passing knowing he has a young child as well,” said the grieving brother.

He suspected that his brother fell asleep at the wheel.

“I tell you to all road users, if you are tired don’t go around the steering and drive. My brother has now become a part of the road statistics and that is really heart breaking. He is also a young driver. Maybe about a year since he started driving,” he said.

“You can’t drink and drive. I am not here to accuse him of drinking, but from what I saw inside the car, it is a representation that you go party and you’re drinking. He was coming from a party in Banana Ground… Apparently, it looks like he fell asleep,” said the brother.

— Kasey Williams