MOHAMMED Kalil Shazam, known as Shazam Kalil or ‘Rabbit’, who in a fit of jealously fatally stabbed his teenage ex-girlfriend at Rosignol, West Coast Berbice on January 17, 2015, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the Berbice Assizes.A mixed jury found the defendant guilty of murder two weeks ago, and in passing sentence on the 24-year-old convict on Friday, Justice Barlow said the prisoner would not be eligible for parole until he has served 24 years in prison.

Justice Barlow noted that in society, when one partner tries to sever a relationship, the other person very often takes things into their own hands.

“The court will not tolerate such behaviour because of your poor family upbringing; the court will not accept that. We have to find a way other than violence to sort out these situations,” the Judge said.

Shazam’s defence lawyer, Tejnarine Ramroop, plans to appeal the sentence. Shazam, of Shieldstown Village, West Bank Berbice, had initially pleaded not guilty to killing his ex-girlfriend Shazina Mohamed, 19, but State Prosecutor Stacy Goodings presented the evidence of seven witnesses, who testified that on January 17, 2015, the teenager Mohamed, of Edinburgh Village, East Bank Berbice, had gone to Rosignol Village to unlock a phone. While there, she met two of her friends — Mitra Sookdeo, called Trevor, and his sister Latchmie Sookdeo. The trio had gone to a Chinese restaurant, and Trevor left his sister eating inside when he joined Shazina, who was seated outside. They had met three months earlier in a Digicel chat room.

Trevor had gone back inside the restaurant when he heard screams; and upon looking outside, he saw that ‘Rabbit’ had one of his arms wrapped around Shazina and the other hand appeared to be cuffing her.

Trevor took the injured teen to the Fort Wellington Hospital, where she died whilst being transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital.

A post-mortem report by Government Pathologist Dr Vivikanand Brijmohan detailed that the teenager died from multiple stab wounds inflicted with a sharp instrument.

SCHOOL DROP OUT
In her report on the prisoner’s background, Probation Officer Odessia Semple said that while he had admitted his involvement in the crime, he had nevertheless indicated that his action was unintentional and regrettable.

Shazam, the second of 10 children, was forced by his family’s low income to drop out of school at age 14 to do odd jobs ranging from being a labourer to that of a fisherman.

At aged 17, he became gainfully employed as a cane harvester, and established a relationship with the now dead teenager via telephone during 2012. Shazam revealed that the relationship was blissful and harmonious for three years, eight months, after which they started experiencing difficulties following allegations of infidelity perpetrated by the teen.