Manslayer apologises to family, court; awaits sentence

Everton Rommell Brathwaite will know his fate on Wednesday for killing a man almost three years ago.

When he was arraigned before Justice Randall Worrell in the No. 2 Supreme Court Brathwaite said he was not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter for the death of Ricardo Wood on December 15, 2021.

“I want to apologise to the deceased man’s family for the pain and struggle I put them through,” said Brathwaite, who also apologised to the court and wider society for his actions, which he said: “cost the life of an innocent and upstanding man.”

Asking the court for leniency in its sentencing, he expressed sorrow that he would not be able to see his daughter transition from primary to secondary school.

In his sentencing submissions, Brathwaite’s attorney Kyle Walkes said that Wood’s death had been a result of a scuffle between the two men where his client had been trying to defend himself.

He noted that during his time on remand, Brathwaite had been engaged in positive efforts such as enrolling in several rehabilitative programmes, including drug counselling, anger management, and various educational pursuits. He urged the court to consider those mitigating factors during its sentencing.

Saying that the manslayer was “not the worst but not the most favourable”, Principal State Counsel Oliver Thomas considered Brathwaite’s 26 previous, which included theft, substance abuse, aggravated burglary, and possession of offensive weapons as aggravating. He added that this latest offence had resulted from Brathwaite’s use of sharpened scissors on the deceased.

The prosecutor said the only mitigating feature in the case was Brathwaite’s remorse as stated in his pre-sentencing and prison reports.

Thomas pointed out that Wood’s death was still having an impact on his family: “Mr Brathwaite needs to be deterred from further criminality.”