An act of extortion gone bad is said to be one of the contributors to the death of a male student.

Dead is Theodore Skully, 16, of Central Village, St Catherine.

Reports from the police are that about 2:30 p.m. Skully was being chased by four males dressed in uniform. The 16-year-old ran from bushes into the path of Toyota Succeed motor car in the vicinity of New Nursery.

He was hit by the vehicle which threw him on to the opposite side of the road, where he was run over by a Leyland truck.

The St Catherine North Traffic Department has commenced an investigation into the incident.

"A because of extortion why them did a run him down, as him tell me that yesterday (Monday) them tell him fi sen on money and one even grab on to his shirt pocket, but him managed to fight them off," Lena Smith-Russell, mother of the deceased, mother told The Gleaner.

"His death is a spill-off from that incident, and this morning his stepfather told him not to go to school, but he insisted and was told to report the incident. We don't know if he did," the grieving mother said.

With a far-away look in his eyes, Paul Skully just stared at his son's lifeless body under a white sheet.

"It is very sad to see this," he said.