A Georgetown man who chopped another man 19 times, killing him in July 2021, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.
The man, Deron Franklyn, was handed the sentence for murdering Alwill Franklyn in Dickson Village on July 28, 2021.
Franklyn had maintained his innocence, but a 12-member jury found him guilty after a full trial.
Franklyn’s cross pendant, a photo of which police found on his phone, helped to link him to the crime and seal the case against him.
Justice Rickie Burnett presented the facts of the case as he sentenced Franklyn at the High Court in Kingstown on July 24.
The judge used the initials of relevant parties in the case, saying that I.F., of Dickson Village, is the deceased man’s sister and the defendant’s aunt.
I.F. lived in the same yard as the deceased and the defendant.
On July 28 2021, I.F. saw the deceased just before 10 p.m. at home but did not see the defendant.
At approximately 10 p.m., I.F. was awakened by a noise. She got out of bed and saw the back door of her mother’s house open.
She went into her mother’s house and met the deceased in the living room, lying in a pool of blood, groaning.
I.F. called for help and the ambulance arrived at the scene.
At around 10:10 p.m., Police Constable Roy Carl De Freitas, stationed at Georgetown Police Station and attached to CID, responded to the report of a chopping incident at Dickson.
De Freitas and other officers arrived at the house, which was in complete darkness.
The officers met the deceased with multiple chop wounds. A District medical officer later pronounced Franklyn dead at the scene.
Sergeant Alexander, who was among the officers who processed the scene, found a live round of .38 ammunition, two pieces of broken cutlass handle and a silver chain with a cross pendant.
Corporal Millington later took over the investigation and the defendant was identified as a suspect. He was arrested and his cell phone confiscated.
Franklyn, however, denied killing the deceased.
Investigators executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home but found no evidence of wrongdoing.
A post-mortem concluded that the deceased died of multiple chop wounds.
During a July 31 electronic interview with Frankly, police noted that the screensaver on his phone was a picture of him wearing a cross pendant.
The defendant maintained that he was not involved in the killing.
The police obtained a warrant to search the defendant’s phone and they conducted a digital forensic examination of the device.
The defendant was interviewed again in the presence of his then-lawyer, Grant Connell, and remained silent, as was his right.
A social inquiry report prepared ahead of the sentencing said that the defendant was 35 years old at the time and the father of three sons.
He grew up with his aunt and attended Dickson Primary School. He passed the Common Entrance Examination and attended the St. Vincent Grammar School, but quit at Form 3 because of financial issues to seek employment.
He later continued his education at the Georgetown Secondary School and went on to work as a mechanic and maintenance man and a relief male attendant at Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.
The report said that the defendant abused alcohol and marijuana and attended church.
He was able to see a counsellor at the prison.
His community described him as cool, not known to be troublesome, brilliant and having a good relationship with the community.
The social worker said the defendant was a good candidate for rehabilitation.
The judge established a starting point of 40 years in prison.
An aggravating feature of the offence was the defendant’s physical suffering before he died.
The judge noted that the post-mortem examination found 19 chop wounds.
There were no mitigating features of the offence.
Justice Burnett concluded that the aggravating features outweigh the mitigating and increased the sentence by three years.
In order not to double count, the judge identified no aggravating features of the offender.
He, however, noted that the social inquiry report found Frankly to be a good candidate for rehabilitation.
Justice Burnett concluded that the mitigating features of the offender outweighed the aggravating and reduced the sentence by three years, bringing it back to 40 years.
After the judge deducted the three years, seven months and 12 days that Franklyn spent on remand, he was left with a sentence of 36 years, four months and 19 days in prison.
Crown Counsel Cornelius Tittle appeared for the prosecution while Ronald Marks represented the defendant.