Gordon's Bay "Hit and Run" Teens Appear in World Cup Court

A World Cup Regional Court on Thursday granted bail to two teenagers accused of a hit-and-run in Gordon's Bay in which an American tourist died and two people were seriously injured. Nicole Murphy, 25, from Louisiana has been named as the woman who was killed while walking with her siblings along the main road between Gordon's Bay and the Strand, not far from the entrance to Harbour Island, shortly after midnight on Wednesday morning. Murphy and her brother and sister were hit, by a double-cab bakkie, and the driver is accused of speeding away after the accident.

Police found a number plate on the scene, and traced the vehicle to a Gordon's Bay address, where they found the bakkie. Jeanine van der Merwe, 22, a stundent from Gauteng originally told police that she had been driving the vehicle.

Jeanine van der Merwe and Kyle McDonald, who face a charge of culpable homicide, were led into the courtroom in handcuffs.Magistrate Deon Oosthuysen asked why there were two accused in the dock if only one person could have been driving at the time of the incident.

Prosecutor Nopelo Nhantsi told the court that the driver failed to stop after the incident, and that Van der Merwe and McDonald, who were in the car together, were later found at their respective homes.Both were arrested because it was a hit-and-run, but the charge against one of them was likely to be withdrawn later.Nhantsi did not oppose bail as both had no previous convictions.The case was postponed to June 23 for further investigation.

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