Twenty-five-year-old Patrick “Papi” Meighan left home to enjoy Carnival weekend, but he never made it back. Shortly before seven on Saturday evening, Meighan was fatally injured after being run over by a moving truck near Cambranes Bakery on Freetown Road. The vehicle was returning from Belize City’s Carnival Road March when the celebration took a deadly turn. Tonight, police are working to determine exactly what happened, and Meighan’s loved ones are struggling to make sense of his sudden death. News Five’s Britney Gordon has the story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
The blare of horns, the shrill of whistles, and the nonstop rhythm of soca and calypso music filled the streets as twenty-five-year-old Patrick “Papi” Meighan prepared for a night of celebration. The festive mood would not last. Just hours later, his family received the devastating news that he had been killed in an accident involving a truck following the Carnival Road March. Police say twenty-four-year-old Aidan Tasher was behind the wheel.
Stacy Smith
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer
“Police are investigating the death of twenty-six-year-old Patrick Meighan, which occurred on Saturday, fifth September, shortly after seven twenty p.m. What the investigation has so far suggested is that Meighan had allegedly attempted to climb on board a trailer truck on Freetown Road, and in the process of attempting to do so, he reportedly fell and became unresponsive. He was transported to the hospital for medical attention. However, he was pronounced dead at around eight o’clock pm.”
Patrick’s father, Norris Meighan, explains that after his son had been taken to the hospital, he received the phone call that no parent wishes to receive, confirming that his son had died. Conflicting accounts have left the family with more questions than answers as they await the outcome of the police investigation.
Norris Meighan Sr.
Norris Meighan Sr., Father of Deceased
“We have strong faith and we don’t like to accuse people. You have accident and thing, thing happen. It’s beyond our control. Probably beyond the driver control. I no di seh you don’t have safety protocols, but it’s not like we would like to sit here and accuse anybody. We weren’t there, and so we just have to let the police do their investigation and see exactly what will come out of it.”
According to Meighan, his son had a joyful spirit and eagerly anticipated the September festivities, with Carnival topping his list.
Norris Meighan Sr.
“I tried to discourage Patrick from going to Carnival. I was concerned about his safety with gun violence, and he just wasn’t into that. He was so happy that it was Carnival, and the last time I saw Patrick, he got dressed, and he took out a cologne bottle, and he was spraying over himself. And I had to laugh, right? I told him, I say, you’re going to smell like a flower at the carnival. And he tell me, it’s party time.”
Family and friends remember Meighan as a hardworking stevedore who enjoyed life but never forgot his responsibilities. He supported his mother however he could, and his father says his friendly personality allowed him to make friends wherever he went.
Norris Meighan Sr.
“I’d like Patrick to be remembered as a fun-loving guy. Of seven sons, Patrick is the only one of my son I would tell you would go on a truck and party for Carnival. The next six, you wouldn’t get them on that. My other sons, they deh on the side and look. Patrick is the only one will climb on a truck and go and party and dance and he wave with everybody. And that’s why he have so many friends.”
Meighan’s family now wants stronger safeguards to prevent another tragedy. They believe Carnival organizers should assign personnel to guide drivers and install barriers between moving trucks and crowds, where one careless moment can have deadly consequences.
Norris Meighan Sr.
“They need to pay a deep attention to these things because way how we do things in Belize, everybody just gather around and get loose, free, and it’s a party and they don’t, they throw away the security for the moment, and that’s where the danger come in, and we have to accept that.”
While the investigation remains ongoing, police formally served Tasher with a notice of intended prosecution. Britney Gordon for News Five.
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