Husband and wife killed in Christmas Day traffic collision

Two girls were orphaned on Christmas Day when their parents were killed in a traffic accident on West Bay Street, near the intersection of Blake Road on New Providence.

Brent Johnson, 52, and his wife, Eulona, 49, were on their way home with their daughters when the accident happened, according to his sister, Kendea Smith.

“Brent was such a wonderful person,” she said.

“And he touched so many lives. And it is very tragic that he had to die in a way that wasn’t even his fault.

“He only was driving home; straight home. I’m sure he didn’t expect that.”

Police said the Johnson family was driving east in a Nissan March shortly after 6 p.m., when the driver of a black Honda Accord that was heading west collided with them while trying to overtake another vehicle. 

A Chevrolet Malibu, which was traveling west, also collided with the Johnsons’ vehicle.

Police said Brent Johnson and Eulona Johnson were pronounced dead on the scene. Their two daughters, and the driver and occupant of the passenger seat of the Honda Accord, were injured in the accident and hospitalized.

Smith said yesterday that the daughters were in stable condition.

She said the family is devastated, but the focus has to be on helping the girls, ages 12 and 16, recover.

“Brent and Eulona shared a beautiful life together,” she said.

“And I’m going to miss both of them.”

“Our focus now is making sure that his girls are OK and getting them back to that place. Their parents are all they ever knew. I can’t imagine their healing process because I’m still on mine. And I hope that we can help them to heal.”

Smith said she never could have expected that when she spoke to her brother on Christmas morning, it would be the last time.

“Heartbreaking, heart-wrenching, shattering, those are some of the words I can think of,” she said.

“And I’m still pretty broken.

“It was unexpected, devastating. Those were some of the words that really come to mind.”

The Johnsons were the owners of The Sweet Life Bakery in the Mall at Marathon.

Smith described Johnson as a light in the lives of many and a mentor to her and others.

“He was a very wonderful person; kind, welcoming,” she said.

“If he met you, he would act as if he had known you for years, even if he had just met you that second.”

She added, “To know him, is to love him. He was light, he was smart, funny and extremely energetic.

“…He raised my brother and I in our home. And it’s very tragic that he had to go this way. Brent was a mentor to people, a coach, an athlete, a brilliant, brilliant man and he had so many plans for the future.”

In recent years, traffic fatalities have claimed the lives of many Bahamians, with officials having identified the high occurrence as an issue in The Bahamas.

While police have not yet identified speed as a factor in the accident, Smith yesterday urged drivers to slow down.

“I honestly don’t know what people’s rush is right now during the holidays,” she said.

“Why are you rushing? You don’t have to go to work. You don’t have to rush like this. I think Bahamians have to realize that we’ve lost far too many people that way and they just need to slow down.”

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