“Maybe I’m paying for my past sins,” were the words uttered by Shawn Harris, the Kitty man who was found guilty of murdering a vagrant in 2017, prior to a life sentence being handed down to him yesterday.
The charge against Harris, 31, stated that he murdered Sunil Singh, called ‘Grey,’ on February 5th, 2017, at Owen Street, Kitty.
Harris was found guilty of the offence by a 12-member jury on December 17, 2019 after almost four hours of deliberation.
The accused was represented by attorney Maxwell McKay while the state’s case was prosecuted by Shawnette Austin.
During the resumption of the matter before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow, a report was presented to the court by Superintendent of Prisons, Olivia Cox. According to Cox, Harris was among the 13 prisoners who escaped from the Lusignan prison in 2017 and would have also served a three-year prison term for the possession of cocaine. She further noted that during his earlier prison terms, Harris was one of the most undisciplined prisoners but with intervention, his attitude, Cox added, has improved tremendously.
A plea of mitigation was then made by attorney McKay, who noted that his client recently completed the anger management course and for the most part has changed his attitude towards life in general.
Subsequently, the brother of the deceased, who was present in court, was also granted the opportunity to speak, and expressed how disappointed he was and that he wished things turned out differently.
Prior to being sentenced Harris was granted the opportunity to speak, which saw him stating that he did not kill Singh and that it is his belief that he’s paying for his past sins. Harris further told the court that the jury had found him guilty and he cannot doubt them.
Justice Barlow informed the accused that considering the charge, the death penalty would not have been appropriate since there is no evidence to show that he, the accused, could not be reintegrated into society. She stated that a life sentence was more appropriate with the possibility of parole after the accused would have served 20 years.
Harris, who was one of 13 prisoners who escaped from the Lusignan Prison in 2017, was charged with fatally stabbing Singh, after the man attempted to rescue an employee of a Lamaha Street nightclub from an attack by Harris and two others.
Harris along with two others had attempted to enter the club after it was closed but was prevented from doing so by an employee.
An argument ensued between the employee and the three men, which resulted in the worker being stabbed. Singh intervened and tried to make peace but he was dealt a blow to his head. Singh subsequently ran and was pursued to Owen Street, where he was eventually stabbed multiple times.
