St Philip brothers sentenced for “cold-blooded” murder

Brothers Stuart Kenny MacMillian and Scott Colby Richardson Harewood were sentenced to 35 and 38 years behind bars respectively for the 2014 “cold-blooded” killing of Derek Hunte.

But given the time that the two have already spent on remand and their guilty pleas, Stuart now has 6,068 days or just over 16 years remaining to serve on his sentence while his younger brother Scott has 7,247 days or just over 19 years to spend at Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds.

Madam Justice Pamela Beckles handed down the sentence Thursday on the killers from Bequest, St Philip telling them that “society is concerned with the alarming incidents of firearm-related crime and the message has to ring out loud and clear that crimes of this nature will not be tolerated”.

Last year, the duo pleaded guilty to the non-capital murder of Hunte, formerly of Lynches, St Philip on June 3, 2014.

The facts of the crime were previously outlined by Principal Crown Counsel Krystal Delaney who appeared with Crown Counsel Danielle Mottley.

Delaney said then that Hunte was on a block in his community between the hours of 2.00 and 2:30 p.m. when Stuart arrived in a car. The two were then involved in a verbal altercation after which Stuart left. He returned shortly after, however, this time armed with a dark coloured gun which he removed from his pocket, walked up to Hunte and fired a single shot in the air after they began to argue again.

The two then began to struggle and witnesses present said Stuart pointed the firearm at Hunte and they heard a loud click but the firearm did not discharge. The struggle continued but subsequently ceased and Stuart left the area only to return again around 3:30 p.m. with his brother Scott who was armed with a gun.

When Hunte, who was still in the area, spotted the two, he began to run. Stuart threw a bottle at him while Scott pursued him down a track and fired several shots. The brothers then left the area in a vehicle and Hunte was pronounced dead at the scene.

A post mortem showed the deceased received six gunshot injuries to the body. The cause of death was attributed to hemorrhagic shock, secondary to gunshot wounds to the back.

“This can only be described as a brutal, callous, deliberate and cold-blooded killing of the deceased,” Justice Beckles said in handing down the sentence.

Pointing to the aggravating features of the case she said the killing was “premeditated and deliberate” and took place in broad daylight in the presence of other persons. “This was no spontaneous act and neither was it an accident.”

In Stuart’s case, who was assessed as being at a medium to high risk of reoffending, the judge noted that after he got into an argument with Hunte, left the area and returned shortly after with a firearm. He fired a shot in the air and during the altercation pointed the firearm at Hunte and attempted to discharge a shot but was unsuccessful. He then went for his brother who was armed with a gun.

“Even though you were not the shooter you clearly played a significant role in how the deceased met his death,” Beckles told 37-year-old Stuart who is 14 months older than his brother. He has three prior cannabis convictions.

Scott who has previous convictions for burglary, possession of a .32 revolver, ammunition and theft, is assessed at a high risk of reoffending. Both men have a history of institutionalized misconduct while at HMP Dodds.

Justice Beckles told Scott: “The court noted that you agreed to accompany your brother to confront the deceased although you had no altercation or history with the deceased. You armed yourself with a firearm… You ran behind the deceased and fired multiple shots… The deceased was shot in his back while fleeing from you.

“The firearm has not been recovered which means that it is out there somewhere. A firearm that can potentially be used to perpetrate other crimes and that is a serious aggravating factor.”

Given the aggravating factors of the deadly shooting Justice Beckles adjusted the starting sentence of 35 years in Scott’s case upwards by three years and Stuart remained at 35 years. The deductions were then made.

“The court is still astonished and bewildered by the fact that of the two of you, not one of you could have been the voice of reason on June 3, 2014, and convince the other to look for some other way, some lawful way to resolve the dispute that you may have had with the deceased and in so doing spared his life,” she stated.

The High Court judge also advised the killers, who were represented by attorney-at-law Safiya Moore,  to undergo any anger management, conflict resolution, or drug counselling programmes or enrol in available academic, skills or vocational programmes.