Ex-Bermuda cop dies in car crash in US

A former Bermuda police officer died after a head-on crash in North Carolina.

Juriena Smith, 35, was killed instantly after her Toyota Scion was in a collision with another car near Hillsborough on Saturday night.

Last night, her grieving mother Judy Smith-Lee paid tribute and said: “I’m happy that I talked to her a couple of days prior to the accident.

Ms Smith-Lee of Warwick, added: “The last thing we said was ‘remember I love you.’

“It was a great shock when we were told — it was very emotional for us. We are terribly traumatised by this.”

Ms Smith, who lived in Durham, North Carolina with partner Tashonda Vincent, was the niece of former PLP Minister and Devonshire North Central MP Glenn Blakeney.

Ms Smith, who attended Purvis Primary School, Bermuda High School for Girls before signing up as a Bermuda police officer.

She was the island’s youngest Police Cadet when she joined up and later attended Bermuda College before leaving to pursue her education at university in North Carolina, where she graduated with a degree in graphic design.

She continued to work in law enforcement, however, taking a post as in human resources and training liaison for the North Carolina Central University campus police department.

Ms Smith-Lee said: “She was a very jolly, upbeat person and very sports-orientated — she loved to participate in challenging sports. She liked ski-ing and horseback riding and cycling. She also travelled quite a bit and spent a lot of time in mountains during the winter months.

“She was loved by many and was a very, very happy and outgoing person and she was a very popular person on the police force here.”

The accident happened on a main road around 10pm on Saturday night. The 40-year-old woman driving the other car, a Ford Escort, was also killed in the crash.

Ms Smith-Lee added that her daughter, who had lived in Durham for around 10 years, also helped seniors in her adopted home by acting as physical trainer for a class of older people at a local gym.

She said that her daughter would be cremated in North Carolina and a service would be held in Bermuda at a date still to be arranged.

Ms Smith, is also survived by her father Victor Smith and brother Carlos.