American businessman’s ‘last moments alive’ captured before deadly crash in Jamaica
Gavin Riley / Our Today
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Polarising opinions permeate social media tonight (August 16) over what appears to be 32-year-old Dallas native Jarelle Donato’s last moments alive before his eventual death in a motor vehicle collision in the parish of St Ann on Tuesday.
Donato, a food mart operator from Texas, was killed while on vacation in Jamaica.
The 45-second footage shows Donato recording himself driving a Mazda Demio motorcar along a section of the North Coast Highway as he attempted his best Jamaican accent.
Throughout the clip, he marvelled at the stark difference to Jamaicans driving on the right side of the road, calling it “crazy” before turning the camera to the speedometer as the vehicle began accelerating.
Donato then exclaimed he was “gonna hit the gas”, and followed a public passenger vehicle in improperly overtaking chevron lines and a right-turning lane in the opposite direction. The mere act of videotaping himself also contravenes provisions of the Road Traffic Act which prohibits the use of smartphones whilst driving.
“Ayy… I don’t give a [expletive deleted]. Yah mon, yah mon, pass nah mon, pass nah mon,” were his last words said in the video.
WATCH (Viewer discretion is strongly advised)
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), whose investigations into the father of five’s death remain active, painted Donato’s final moments.
According to preliminary reports from the Discovery Bay Police, Donato was driving his motorcar from the direction of Montego Bay, St James around 5:15 pm.
On reaching a section of Queen’s Road in Discovery Bay, the visitor collided with an ambulance travelling in the opposite direction.
The police were alerted and both drivers were transported to hospital, where Donato was pronounced dead.
While the prevailing mood was that of sympathy, some criticised Donato on the X.com, formerly known as Twitter, for driving recklessly and speeding on roads in a foreign country he would not be wholly familiar with.
Driving can potentially be a stressful ordeal for Americans, who are used to their left-lane way of driving, which Jamaica does the polar opposite of.
Nevertheless, as the grief lingers, family and friends closest to Donato are choosing to remember the father of five as a loving parent and a proud businessman who played as hard as he worked.
For them, his death is a huge blow to the community of Dallas, where Donato proudly owned and operated his eponymous food mart on 200 N Corinth St Road in the Texan city.
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