A man was yesterday sentenced to 30 years in jail after being found guilty of unlawfully killing Akeem Yorrick, a mason who was fatally shot in 2015.
Kevin Francis, 30, was on trial for the offence of murder before Justice Navindra Singh and a 12-member jury at the High Court in Georgetown. The charge against Francis alleges that on August 5th, 2015, at the Sparendaam Squatting Area, East Coast Demerara, he murdered Yorrick.
Francis was represented by attorney Maxwell McKay, while the state’s case was led by prosecutors Tuanna Hardy and Teriq Mohammed.
Police, in a press release, had said that at about 9.50 pm on August 5th, 2015, a group of residents confronted a man, whom they accused of being involved in an armed robbery, at his home at the Sparendaam Squatting Area, on the East Coast of Demerara.
“During the ensuing altercation, the man discharged a round into the group of residents, fatally wounding Akeem Yorrick, 23 years, of Prince William Street, Plaisance, ECD, and escaped,” the release had said.
Yorrick was shot once to his abdomen and died while receiving treatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
After their deliberations on the evidence led during the trial, the jury returned with a unanimous verdict of not guilty for the offence of murder but guilty for the lesser count of manslaughter. Subsequent to their verdict, Justice Singh asked the accused if he wished to say anything, to which he responded in the affirmative.
Francis told the court, “I respect the verdict…I already spent four years…even with the fire at Camp Street I never try to escape.”
He also maintained that he was innocent of the charge. “If I knew I had a firearm on me, I woulda never went in the house…I ain’t know what dem people get against me,” he said.
Francis ended his statement by telling the court that he had no fear.
In mitigation, McKay asked the court to be lenient with his client based upon all the facts put forward.
Having heard from both the accused and his attorney, Justice Singh stated that a life was lost, and Fraser must be punished. He noted, however, that he would not add aggravating factors to the sentence and would give the accused the lowest sentence given by his court.
Francis was subsequently sentenced to 30 years in jail. He was informed by the judge that the prison authority will deduct the time he would have already spent in prison.
