Murderer to address court before sentencing

A woman convicted of murdering her partner will have her opportunity to address the court next week, ahead of being sentenced.

Shenika Melinda St Pierre of Garden Land, Country Road, St Michael, was found guilty by a jury last November of the murder of Herbie Callender, 56, formerly of St Barnabas Heights, St Michael, on March 28, 2022.

As she reappeared before the No. 5 Supreme Court for sentencing submissions, her defence attorney, Sian Lange, informed the court that her client wanted to return on another date to make her allocution — a formal statement made by a convicted defendant that allows them to address the court before sentencing to explain why a lenient sentence should be imposed.

Justice Pamela Beckles agreed, and this was scheduled for next Wednesday.

Conceding that only jail time would be justified, Lange told the court that the circumstances of the offence did not fall into the criteria of a whole life sentence.

Among the aggravating factors in Lange’s submissions were that St Pierre stabbed the deceased while he was leaving the home, had previous convictions, and was deemed at high risk of reoffending.

But the defence counsel pointed out that there had been a lack of premeditation owing to the impromptu fight, that St Pierre attempted to stop the bleeding, had sought aid to get him to the hospital, felt remorse, and had previously suffered domestic abuse.

Quoting from the pre-sentencing report, Lange said that while it identified her as being at high risk for recidivism, it ended: “Her resilience has been identified as a notable protective factor.”

“I wish to submit to the court that, taking this into consideration, the court should find that Ms St Pierre is not beyond rehabilitation and her time in prison could be spent improving her skills both in terms of life skills and those for employment and additionally her anger management, and emotional management skills, and counselling to address her adverse childhood experiences and history of being a victim of abuse.”

She submitted a starting point of 25 years to 35 years for the offence, with deductions taken for mitigating circumstances and her time spent on remand.

Giving a starting point of 32 years, acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Krystal Delaney contended that there was some element of premeditation as the convicted woman had been disarmed of a knife during the fight by one of the witnesses and had then used a pair of scissors to stab Callender. The prosecutor also dismissed any notion of self-defence or provocation, as witnesses stated that the deceased had been trying to escape from the convicted woman and leave her home.

“There is some sort of domestic abuse element to this. They were in a relationship. He wanted to leave her home, and she ultimately killed him to prevent him from leaving,” Delaney said, pointing to the impact Callender’s death had on his family.

Noting St Pierre’s two prior convictions, Delaney accepted that they were both over 20 years ago and should not be considered.

Sentencing is set for April 16.

(JB)