sentencing deferred for woman who killed her lover

Yes men are abused mostly verbally or emotionally but occasionally violently and tragically. I chose this article not merely to say that women in abusive relationships have killed, but to outline how powerful the cycle of abuse is. This very sad article describes three generations of misery and seemingly unfortunately ineffective interventions. Starting with an abused and abandoned child who reacts with anger, acting out violently and then becoming self injurous, spiralling through abusive relationships, misusing alcohol and marijuana. Though not spelt out in detail we see a woman struggling with emotional and social chaos and latterly physical ill health. She has been in care, she has been in juvenile detention and is back in prison again. And her children, essentially fatherless, have had to cope with their mother's parental shortcomings and what lies ahead looks pretty grim.

This article should be better named "A Bahamian Tragedy"



Sentencing deferred for woman who killed lover

By ARTESIA DAVIS ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ artesia@nasguard.com:

A Supreme Court judge has deferred sentencing for a terminally ill woman who fatally stabbed her lover in the chest with a rat tail comb.

Shimeakima Pratt, 30, was convicted of manslaughter by provocation in the August 2008 death of Defence Force Officer Gary Leon Carey Sr, 54. She had originally faced a murder charge.

Senior Justice Anita Allen said she needed to "ruminate overnight" to decide the appropriate sentence to impose on Pratt following a lengthy mitigation plea by her lawyer Ramona Farquharson.

Pratt, who learned she was HIV-positive eight years ago, has spent a year in prison and Farquharson asked Justice Allen to consider a sentence of time-served.

Farquharson argued that there was "nothing to be gained" for Pratt to spend "an inordinate amount of time in prison". Farquharson said that Pratt had no other convictions as an adult, but probation officer Matrena Carey revealed that when Pratt was 16, she tried to burn her godmother, Delores Rolle, in her bed. Pratt was sent to prison for the crime. When she was released, she lived at the Elizabeth Estates Children's Home. But Farquharson claimed that Pratt was angry and frustrated because her godmother was abusive.

Pratt's two young sons are being cared for by their maternal grandmother, Naomi Johnson. But Carey said she did not think Johnson was an "ideal" mother figure.

The court heard that Johnson has five other children and all of her offspring are with different men. Johnson also abused marijuana and alcohol when her children were younger, the court was told.

Johnson also abandoned her children and they were reared by other relatives, the court heard.

Farquharson said that Pratt was a product of her society. She said Pratt did not meet her father until she was 16 and he later died from "the same illness she has now".

Farquharson asked the court to consider that Pratt sought medical help for Carey as a mitigating factor. But Justice Allen pointed out that Pratt sought to deceive medical personnel by claiming Carey had suffered a seizure after taking a Viagra pill. Carey even showed the EMS personnel and police a pill. But tests revealed that the "Viagra" pill was really the over-the-counter niacin, or vitamin B3.

Terry Archer appeared for the prosecution.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
A MOTHER of three, convicted of manslaughter for the stabbing death of her boyfriend, was sentenced to 10 years in prison yesterday.
Senior Justice Anita Allen also ordered that Shimeakima Delores Pratt attend counselling for anger management and family counselling. Pratt, 30, was convicted on July 1 of the stabbing death of her boyfriend of eight years Gary Carey Sr. Carey, a 54-year-old Defence Force Officer, was found stabbed to death in Pratt's Minnis Subdivision apartment off Carmichael Road on Sunday, August 17, 2008. According to evidence adduced at the trial, Pratt had stabbed Carey in the chest with a rat tail comb and initially told police that Carey had collapsed after taking the male enhancement pill Viagra. Pratt denied that she had intended to kill Carey.
Pratt, who was dressed in a pink outfit, remained silent while Senior Justice Allen handed down her sentence. Outside the courtroom, Terrence Carey, a brother of the deceased, told reporters that he thought Pratt should have had a lengthier prison sentence.
"I think she should get more years. The judge said she had to sleep on it, so I know her mind was going to change." Carey said that his brother was the closest to their mother who is also deceased. He said that his death would have been difficult for her to handle. "My sister is taking it very hard because she really didn't like it at all. She doesn't know why she only got 10 years," he said.
Before handing down the sentence yesterday, Senior Justice Allen noted that manslaughter is a serious offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment although a judge can exercise her discretion. Senior Justice Allen said that the sentence should reflect the position of the court and noted that homicide is far too prevalent in the Bahamas. The judge said she had taken into account all of the aggravating and mitigating factors in the case having noted that the offence took place in a domestic situation. She also said that the ill health of the accused may be a matter for the prerogative of mercy committee. The year that Pratt has spent on remand has been taken into account.
"I was hoping for something much less bearing in mind all of the circumstances, it was about a domestic situation gone wrong," Pratt's attorney Romona Farquharson told reporters yesterday. Ms Farquharson said she offered her client words of encouragement after the sentence was handed down noting that the proceedings have taken a toll on Pratt who has been on suicide watch. Ms Farquharson said she will have to get instructions from her client as to whether the sentence will be appealed.