SHAQUAWN Alleyne, called “Iswe,” was on Thursday sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment for the 2021 murder of his girlfriend, Shonette Dover, after Justice Sandil Kissoon found no mitigating factors in the case.

Before the sentence was imposed, Alleyne addressed the court, saying: “Today I’m standing here before you all to take accountability for my actions.”

He told the court that he still remembers Dover and that memories of their time together continue to replay in his mind.

“I did not mean to cause any harm. I was afraid. I made a few mistakes,” Alleyne said as he sought forgiveness from Dover’s family and the nation.

In handing down sentence, Justice Kissoon noted that the killing stemmed from an act of domestic violence committed in Dover’s home and in the presence of her younger sister. He also highlighted that the murder weapon was an unlicensed firearm.

The judge said intimate partner violence continues to be a troubling trend in society and stressed the need for the courts to send a strong message to deter like-minded offenders.

Justice Kissoon further noted that Alleyne failed to render assistance to Dover after she was shot. Instead, he buried her body in a shallow grave and involved her younger sister in concealing the crime.

The judge said Alleyne not only misled Dover’s family, but also the wider country, by creating the impression that she had simply disappeared.

He also considered the fact that Alleyne fled Guyana following the killing, went into hiding in Suriname and did not voluntarily return to face justice.

Describing the matter as a “grave and heinous offence,” Justice Kissoon said the murder had a “catastrophic” effect on the victim’s family. As a result, he found no mitigating factors in Alleyne’s favour.

In imposing the sentence, Justice Kissoon ordered that Alleyne serve the entire 25-year term, while allowing credit for the period he spent on remand awaiting the completion of the court proceedings.

Justice Sandil Kissoon commenced sentencing with a base sentence of 37 years and six months’ imprisonment.

He then applied a one-third reduction in accordance with sentencing guidelines to account for the offender’s early guilty plea, resulting in a final sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment.

The case stemmed from the disappearance of Dover, who was reported missing on April 3, 2021. Her body was later discovered buried in a shallow grave behind Alleyne’s Canvas City, Wismar home with a gunshot wound to the head.

Alleyne, who fled Guyana after the incident, was eventually apprehended by Surinamese authorities and handed over to local law enforcement. In 2024, he was formally charged with Dover’s murder.

Investigators revealed that Alleyne confessed to killing Dover and later disposing of her body with assistance from her then 15-year-old sister. The teenager was subsequently charged with being an accessory after the fact of murder.

According to information presented during the investigation, the teen told police that Alleyne shot her sister while allegedly cleaning a firearm. She reportedly assisted him in burying the body after the shooting.

In a confession to police, Alleyne claimed the shooting was accidental.

“While cleaning the gun, I pulled back the hammer, and I did spray double WD-40. Shonette was sitting in a chair, and I was in front of her on another chair handle when I pointed the gun and waved it. Shonette told me to stop playing and my finger touched the trigger, and the gun went off, and I see smoke in the living room and Shonette lying motionless with a wound in her forehead and blood coming out,” he reportedly told investigators.

Police said Alleyne further admitted that after the shooting, he became fearful and concealed Dover’s death from her family, falsely claiming that she had gone to work and never returned.

He also allegedly confessed to selling the murder weapon to a man identified as Shakeel Austin before fleeing to Suriname. Austin was later apprehended as investigations continued.

Court records also indicate that Alleyne had previous encounters with the law. He had been charged in an earlier grievous bodily harm matter, which was resolved after the complainant accepted compensation instead of pursuing the case.

In 2018, he was charged with possession of 16 grammes of amphetamine, but that matter was subsequently dismissed.