BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — A statement from the Ministry of National Security confirmed that two individuals charged in connection with a January 2021 shooting incident that claimed the lives of Jahquan Merritt and Lamonte Heyliger have pleaded guilty.
According to the media statement, on May 10, 2024, during the trial in the Criminal Assizes at the High Court, Tabari Roberts and Jelani Duncan “pleaded guilty to manslaughter related to the homicides of teenagers Lamonte Heyliger and Jahquan Merritt.”
The case stems from events on January 11, 2021, when Heyliger and Merritt were fatally shot at Lower Thibou Avenue, McKnight. Roberts was first arrested and charged with murder in January 2021, followed by Duncan in January 2022.
“Manslaughter is a criminal offence that involves the unlawful killing of another person without premeditation. Unlike murder, manslaughter does not require the intent to kill or cause serious harm. Manslaughter by Reason of Provocation occurs when a person kills another in the heat of passion, provoked by the victim’s actions, which would cause a reasonable person to lose self-control.”
Both men are now awaiting sentencing.
Under the Offences Against the Person Act, Cap. 4.21, "a person convicted of manslaughter shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to life imprisonment with or without hard labor, or to pay a fine as the court may award, in addition to or without any other discretionary punishment".
The Crown was represented by the learned Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Adlai Smith, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Teshaun Vasquez, and Crown Counsel, Althea Campbell.
