KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC -A High Court Friday sentenced a man who stabbed a 15-year-old school girl 19 times, killing her in 2017 to life imprisonment with no chance of parole before serving 42 years in jail.
High Court judge, Justice Bertram Morrison, sitting in the St James Circuit Court imposed the sentence on Gregory Roberts for the murder of 15-year-old Shineka Grayin, who was stabbed 19 times on the night of January 29, 2017.
The judge described the killing as a gruesome and sadistic act.
“It reminds me of the days when I used to witness the slaughtering of animals, of goats and pigs,” Justice Morrison said, noting that Roberts’ previous criminal record, included convictions for simple larceny and escaping custody.
Gray, who was a grade 10 student of Green Pond High School in St James, was last seen alive in Montego Bay on January 29, 2017 while making her way home from the funeral of a schoolmate.
Her body was found three days later in bushes in the Irwin community.
The judge said that the convicted man and his former co-defendant Mario Morrison had sex with the underage Gray and then video recorded her killing, as aggravating factors.
But as he delivered the ruling, Justice Morrison deducted Roberts’ time in custody since 2017 from the proposed 50-year starting point for his life sentence, resulting in Roberts being required to serve 42 years, nine months, and 21 days before he will be eligible for parole.
Roberts’ attorney Chumu Parris has since told the court that his client will be appealing the sentence.
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