FOUR years after the fatal shooting of Purcell Moore Jr. during a robbery at Craig Old Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD), his killers, were, on Monday, sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after serving 15 years.

Selwin Dawson, 25, called “Crack Skull”, formerly of First Field, Kaneville, East Bank Demerara, and Kevin Persaud called “Boyce”, 25, formerly of Fourteen Avenue, Diamond, EBD, were on trial before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Demerara High Court for the capital offence of murder.

During the trial hearing, the duo opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. As such, the judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of guilty in relation to the lesser count.
The duo admitted that, on December 20, 2017, they unlawfully killed 40-year-old Moore during the course of a robbery.
During a plea of mitigation, Persaud’s attorney, Damien DaSilva, asked the court to temper justice with mercy while Dawson’s attorney Adrian Thompson told the court that his client is remorseful and wishes to apologise to the victim’s family for his actions.

The deceased’s mother, Gloria Moore, during her victim impact statement pleaded with the court to impose a life sentence to the two self-confessed killers.
State Prosecutor Lisa Cave, while highlighting the prevalence of gun-related crimes in society, asked the judge to send a strong message to like-minded individuals that such acts cannot be tolerated.

Before sentencing, Justice Kissoon told the court that in Guyana youths between the ages of 20 and 30 are armed with illegally obtained guns to carry out criminal excursion as predators and prey upon innocent citizens on a daily basis.

During his sentencing remarks, the judge said that citizens must feel free to carry on with their business without the fear of being attacked and robbed.
To the backdrop, Justice Kissoon said that the sentence of the court must not only fit this bastardly act, but also serve as a deterrent for like-minded offenders.
The judge subsequently sentenced the men to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after serving 15 years.

According to reports, the father of two was robbed of his gold chain and other jewellery. He sustained two gunshot wounds to the head during the attack which occurred one street away from his mother’s home at Craig. Reports are that the man had returned from abroad several weeks prior and might have been monitored by his attackers.