“When I saw my son’s motionless body. I immediately felt cold and confused…my brain could not make sense of what I saw…too many thoughts began rushing through my mind…Brian is dead.”
Those were the words of Brian Charles Yearwood Snr., at the sentencing hearing today of Shannon Cox—the young man who stabbed and killed his 16-year-old son back in 2017— perforating his heart with one of five stabs.
Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall today sentenced the now 25-year-old Cox to 17 year s behind bars.
While tried for murder, a jury last month convicted the young man on the lesser count of manslaughter.
In a touching tribute to his late son whom he fondly referred to as his “name sake,” the senior Yearwood said he is still troubled by his son’s death and in his quiet moments often wonders the type of young man his “caring” son would have been today.
“Questions are all I have,” the tearful man said.”
The court also heard from Louisa Yearwood, who broke down several times sharing the fond memories of her grandson whom she said she misses dearly.
“Among the siblings, he was the peacemaker,” the elderly woman said.
Mrs. Yearwood said she still vividly recalls her grandson unusually dancing that fateful day as he left the house to attend his school fair while singing a song softly in his mother’s ear, which she said she later concluded “was an indication of him to encounter his demise.”
In tears the woman said she would have never believed, “even if an angel at that moment had said to me…you are seeing Brian for the last time alive.”
Both Yearwoods were still echoing calls for justice, with the father lamenting “murderers ought to think twice before taking someone’s life.”
In a mitigating plea, defence attorney Madan Kissoon begged for leniency on behalf of his client, advancing for consideration his previous unblemished record and willingness to be reformed to meaningfully contribute to society.
He submitted that while sentences are to be a deterrent, it should also take cognizance of potential for rehabilitation to afford reintegration to society, even as he presented his client as a suitable candidate.
In his address to the court, a well-spoken Cox expressed condolences to the Yearwood family and begged for leniency, but distanced himself from the crime, saying that he has never been a trouble-maker and is not “as absurd” to have killed anyone.
He went on to protest his innocence, which the judge pointed out did not work in his favour for further deductions to the three years which she discontented from the base sentence of 20 years.
The judge said that the three-year deduction was made owing to the fact that Cox was still relatively young when he committed the offence, has no antecedents, and from prison reports shows reasonable prospects of rehabilitation.
In her stern reprimand, however, the judge told the young offender that his attack on the teen was both “senseless and unprovoked,” and that he has still not taken responsibility for his actions.
To the remaining 17 years, she said that the prison will make deductions for the time Cox would have spent on remand awaiting trial.
In her address to the court, prosecutor Lisa Cave had asked for a sentence which would deter potential offenders, even as she said that young people ought to learn that a resort to violence to solve disputes would not be tolerated.
The charge against the convict was that he unlawfully killed Yearwood on April 29th, 2017 at Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara.
On February 15th, Cox’s former co-accused, Andy Peters, 21, was freed after Justice Morris-Ramlall upheld a no-case submission in his favour.
Yearwood, a former student of Covent Garden Secondary School and formerly of Lot 69 Public Road, Grove, East Bank Demerara, was stabbed once in his chest while attending a school concert at the Covent Garden Nursery School compound.
Police had said that from all indications the stabbing stemmed from an old grievance between the youngsters.
Yearwood was discovered lying on the ground by an off-duty police constable and was rushed to the Diamond Diagnostic Hospital, where he later succumbed.
