Nearly two years after a devastating Mother’s Day road collision claimed the life of elite national cyclist Andre Simon, the man charged in connection with the fatal crash is set to make his next court appearance for formal arraignment next month. Kenyatta Benjamin, a resident of Hatton, appeared before High Court Justice Ann Marie Smith this Monday, where the judicial schedule for the next procedural step was officially set. On June 30, Benjamin will formally answer the charge of dangerous driving brought against him, which stems from the 2022 incident that left Simon critically injured and ultimately dead. If Benjamin enters a plea of not guilty during the upcoming arraignment, court officials will move forward with setting a date for a full public trial.
The tragic incident unfolded in May 2022 along the Sir George Walter Highway, during a scheduled training ride for a group of four competitive cyclists. Prosecutors’ case rests on the allegation that Benjamin’s vehicle collided with all four cyclists who were on the road that day. The cyclists involved were Andre Simon, Sean Weathered, Ghere Coates, and Tiziano Rosignoli, all of whom were rushed to a local medical facility immediately after the crash for emergency care.
Three of the four riders — Weathered, Coates, and Rosignoli — eventually made full recoveries from their injuries and were released from care within a short period. Simon, however, was not as fortunate. The 36-year-old competitor, who left behind one child, suffered catastrophic, life-altering damage in the impact, including severe traumatic brain injury and life-threatening internal bleeding. He spent multiple weeks in the Intensive Care Unit at the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre as medical teams worked to stabilize his condition. Due to the severity of his injuries, Simon was airlifted to the TIRR Memorial Hermann specialized trauma care facility in Houston, Texas on July 2, 2022, to access advanced treatment that was not available locally.
Despite months of intensive medical intervention in the United States, Simon succumbed to his injuries roughly 13 months after the initial collision, becoming the fatal fatality of the crash. Now, after nearly two years of procedural progress, Benjamin is scheduled to return to the High Court for his long-awaited arraignment on the charge connected to Simon’s death.