Murderer to serve 38 years

That was how Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell described Shakira Carlann Blackman’s murder of Shanice Miller five years ago.

“The actions of [Blackman] were premeditated, as seen from her WhatsApp messages, in which she declared her intention was to kill the deceased,” the judge said yesterday as she sentenced Blackman to 42 years in prison.

The killer will, however, spend 38 years, 305 days after deductions.

“The messages also revealed a plan to limit her culpability by making a number of complaints against the deceased so that, according to her messages, when and not if she killed her, she (Blackman) will only do remand time.

“And the fact was that she did do the act, that she did kill the deceased on the day she expressed her intention to do so. The attack on the deceased was unprovoked. Yes, they may have had an altercation the day before, but there was no violence involved in that,” Justice Smith-Bovell said.

“A clear message must be sent by the court, through its sentences, to deter members of the society from settling disagreements through violence, especially to the degree where people lose their lives.”

Blackman, of 4th Avenue, Park Road, Bush Hall, St Michael, was back in the No. 4 Supreme Court where she had been found guilty of murdering Miller on November 27, 2021.

She was represented by Senior Counsel Andrew Pilgrim and attorney Martie Garnes.

Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale, SC, State Counsel Paul Prescod and State Counsel Maya Kellman prosecuted.

Yesterday, Blackman apologised to Miller’s family, to her own and to the court.

“My son now fall to the same crime so I blame myself for this situation. So I want to say sorry,” the convicted murderer said.

Justice Smith-Bovell subsequently told Blackman the court had considered the aggravating and mitigating features and concluded that a custodial sentence was warranted.

The judge said she considered the seriousness of the offence and Blackman’s level of culpability; the nature and gravity of the offence which was one of taking a life without justification; that Blackman had used an inherently dangerous weapon, as well as the number of stabs she inflicted on Miller.

She said Blackman stabbed Miller seven times – one of the stabs fractured a rib and another punctured a lung.

The judge said she also considered the suffering Miller endured as she tried to escape Blackman; that the killing occurred “on a busy public road in the heart of Bridgetown, placing members of the public at risk”, and the effect of Miller’s death on her family.

“She (Miller) was of no threat to [Blackman]. It was [Blackman] who caused the taxi driver to stop so that she could get out and attack the deceased,” the judge said, as she declared she could not find any mitigating features.

“Your culpability in this matter is high and I’ve borne in mind this is an offence which requires both a punitive and deterrent sentence.

“I am not sure this is what people speak about when they speak about fate. If you did not have to return home to collect hair on that morning, your path and that of the deceased probably would never have crossed,” Justice Smith-Bovell noted.

“I think it is both unfortunate that on that morning, the taxi driver happened to know the deceased, and waved at her, and by doing so, that drew your attention to the deceased as she walked the road. It gave you the opportunity to make the taxi driver stop, for you to be able to carry out your act.

“What was required on that morning was self-restraint, which you failed to carry out.”

The judge added Blackman’s “clear pre-meditation and the calculated, cold way in which you carried out this murder” deserved a long term of imprisonment.

“You expressed in your WhatsApp messages a clear intention to kill the deceased and you succeeded in your intent. This is a clear act of revenge by you for perceived wrongs.”

Justice Smith-Bovell told Blackman she determined that 42 years was the appropriate starting point for the sentence.

She then deducted one year for the mitigating features relating to the offender and credited her with the 790 days she spent on remand.

There was no delay in the matter, she added.

In the end, the judge ordered Blackman to serve the remaining 38 years, 305 days in prison. (HLE)