Motorcycle Ride Ends in Tragedy for Brothers

Suky Amin Heureaux, 25, left, and Suky Shamin Heureaux, 24, right, died in motorcycle crashes. Their brother Max Heureaux, 17, stands behind them in the photo. A wake will be held today. (Family Photo)

At the tunnel's toll plaza, Davis stopped to see whether cameras recorded the bike's license plates. The brothers crashed after exiting the tunnel; each was thrown off an elevated highway as he attempted to negotiate the off-ramp to Holabird Avenue.

Friends of the brothers, both of whom were fathers, said they probably fled because they had recently learned from a friend that one of the bikes, bought this spring from an acquaintance, had been reported stolen. Suky Shamin also might have been driving with a suspended license, court records show.

Gervacio said he saw the police car, lifted his right arm and tapped the top of his helmet, a signal to the others that an officer was ahead. They slowed, Gervacio said, and he did not see the trooper leave his post. More than three miles later, however, Gervacio said he looked in his rear-view mirror and saw the trooper closing fast with his lights and sirens on.

Gervacio said he pulled over, but the brothers kept going north on I-95, faster than they had when they first passed the police officer at the side of the road. Gervacio said the trooper also was clearly chasing both brothers at that point. He estimated that the cruiser was five car lengths behind the two bikes.

"That's the last time I saw any of them," Gervacio said.

Several minutes later, an employee at a trucking company at the base of Holabird exit heard the crash and called police after he saw a black helmet rolling down the exit ramp. The police were not far behind, he said.

"When I was on the phone, I could hear the sirens," said the employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he said he had a prior criminal record and feared retaliation by police.

The body of Suky Shamin traveled 150 feet beyond the elevated ramp before landing near a railroad line. The body of Suky Amin was found below the ramp.

For Maximo Heureaux, an employee of the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission, the deaths ended a link that he said went with the nickname he had bestowed on both sons. As a young child in the Dominican Republic, Maximo said he was known for yelling "Suky" when he saw neighborhood boys riding Suzukis by his parents' home.

"It was my lucky nickname," he said. "I gave it to both of them."