Man serving 45 years for murder gets 28 years for conspiracy

A 31-year-old man who is serving a 45-year sentence for murder was on Wednesday sentenced to a further 28 years in prison for conspiracy to murder.

After serving the 45-year sentence, the man, Mwata Henry will spend a further 23 years, 9 months and 23 days in prison, which represents the 28-year sentence minus the four years, two months and seven days he spent on remand.

His co-defendant, Dwayne Stephens, aka “Sniper”, 34, will serve a 25-year sentence for the same conspiracy to commit murder.

Stephens, also a Redemption Sharpes resident, spent 6 years, two months and seven days on remand, leaving 18 years, nine months and 23 days on the sentence.

The men were convicted on Nov. 8, 2023, of a charge that between Feb. 27, 2018 and March 2, 2018, at Redemption Sharpes, they agreed with others that a course of conduct shall be pursued, which, if the agreement was carried out in accordance with their intentions would amount to the commission of murder on Collrise Pompey aka Quinn of Redemption Sharpes.

They were jointly charged along with Juwanni Roberts, aka Gunman, then a 15-year-old, who was shot and killed two years later in Gunn Hill on May 25, 2020.

The facts of the case are that one of the defendants shot and killed Pompey at Redemption Sharpes on March 2, 2018 as part of a conspiracy to murder, which involved, among other potential persons, Roberts.

The motive for the murder was a series of conflicts involving Henry and Stephens’ friends and associates and Pompey.

The prosecution’s case was supported by digital evidence extracted from Stephens and Roberts’ cell phones.

The data from the devices showed that Roberts had been monitoring Pompey and reporting back to Stephens about Pompey’s whereabouts.

On Feb. 28, 2018, Henry obtained a car, which he said he had borrowed to take his niece to school.

However, he did not take her to school on the morning when Pompey was killed.  

On the night of March 1 into the morning of March 2, 2018, while at Henry’s home, the men further discussed and confirmed the conspiracy.

One or more of the men produced a gun while they were at Henry’s home.

On the morning of the killing, Henry and Stephens made calls to each other at 4:30, a.m.

That same morning, Henry, Stephen and Roberts were seen together in the car that Henry had obtained and was driving.

The car slowed down or stopped on “the block” where Pompey was liming with others then drove away

A short while later, a man wearing a jacket belonging to Stephens appeared and shot Pompey then fled the scene.

Shortly thereafter, Henry and Stephens were seen in the same car that Henry had obtained and was driven.

Henry and Stephens were then bare back.

Stephens later admitted to the police that they had hidden the car shortly after the killing had occurred.

Further, the evidence obtained from the cell phones showed that Stephens sent messages to another person indicating that he had had Pompey killed.

He implored the receiver of the messages to delete them. Stephens also sent a WhatsApp message to another associate, celebrating Pompey’s death and informing that Pompey had just been shot in the head.

In an electronic interview with police, Stephens provided details of the conspiracy between he and Henry, implicating them both in the conspiracy for which they were charged.

Additionally, a woman who was close to Henry at the time, testified via live-link that Henry confessed to her the conspiracy to kill Pompey as well as a desire to kill Stephens because he had revealed the conspiracy to kill Pompey.

In handing down his sentence at High Court No. 2, in Kingstown on Wednesday, Justice Rickie Burnett established a starting sentence of 25 years for each defendant.

He identified the aggravating factors as the use of a gun, the attempts to conceal evidence and the upsurge in gun crime.

The judge further identified as aggravating features the fact that the crime was committed in public, a minor was employed to effect the offence and both defendants’ previous convictions.

He, therefore, increased the sentence by three years.

As regards Stephens, the judge identified as mitigating features the assistance he gave police and the evidence he provided against Henry.

The judge, therefore, reduced Stephens’ sentence by three years.

He found no mitigating features as regards Henry and made no adjustments to the sentence.

The judge noted that Henry was serving a 45-year sentence and ordered that the 28-year sentence run consecutive to that sentence.

Assistant Director of Public Prosecution Karim Nelson appeared for the Crown.

In May 2022, Henry was sentenced to 45 years in jail for the Jan. 24, 2018 murder of Jahbarry Charles, 22, of Redemption Sharpes.

Henry was initially suspected of the crime but was charged only after he boasted about it to other prisoners.

On Jan. 24, 2018, Charles and friends were at the pavilion of the Redemption Sharpes playing field celebrating his birthday.  

Gunshots rang out and several of the people present suffered gunshot injuries.

Charles, who was later found in a banana field with gunshot injuries, was taken to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, where he died of his injuries.

Detective Biorn Duncan of the Major Crimes Unit headed a homicide investigation, which quickly pointed to Henry as the main suspect.

Henry was arrested the same night but was released 48 hours later becuase the investigation produced no solid evidence against him.

However, a few weeks later, Henry was jailed on an unrelated matter and on March 5, 2018, he boasted to his cellmates that he and other men had “rolled up” on Charles as he was celebrating his birthday.