6 yrs for child’s beating death

A Kingston labourer who beat his four-year-old stepson over two hours for eating slowly, resulting in the child’s death, has been sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter.

The sentence was handed down by Justice Bertram Morrison in the St Catherine Circuit Court last Thursday.

The 26-year-old offender, Shandee Bennett, was initially charged with murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in connection with the July 2021 death of Nashawn Brown.

However, despite his guilty plea, he sought to shift blame in the social inquiry, claiming that the child’s mother was ultimately responsible for the boy’s death and that he had only taken the blame because she was pregnant at the time with his child.

Bennett, who was also charged with sexual touching, also claimed in the social inquiry report that he is not aware of the outcome.

The child’s mother said Bennett had beaten the child for two hours at different intervals.

The facts outlined by prosecutor Malike Kellier are that on July 18, 2021, Nashawn told his mother that he was not feeling well. Around 4 p.m., she served him dinner and told him to eat so that he could feel better, but the boy began eating slowly. Bennett then warned the child that if he didn’t eat, he would be beaten.

Bennett then broke a stick from a nearby tree and began beating Nashawn all over his body. He also used his hands to slap the child. The mother attempted to intervene, telling Bennett that he did not need to beat the child so severely, but was struck in the head with the same stick.

Despite her repeated pleas for him to stop, Bennett continued with his violent attacks. He slapped the mother, and when she attempted to defend herself, he punched her several times. He then retrieved a metal broomstick and used it to beat her, resulting in cuts to her hand, bruises to both hands, and swelling to her face.

The brutal beating of Nashawn continued intermittently for over two hours. The child later succumbed to his injuries.

The woman then told Bennett that she intended to take her son and leave but he grabbed her by her neck and told her he would break it. She told him to get out of her way, and he proceeded to further assault her.

Motionless and barely breathing

According to the boy’s mother, her son indicated that he needed to use the bathroom, and Bennett took him there. The mother then overheard Bennett telling the boy, “Come mi wash yuh off,” followed by asking, “Nash, what happened to yuh? You want some water?”

Upon hearing this, the mother went to check on her son and found him motionless and barely breathing. They then got a bottle of rubbing alcohol from which they applied alcohol to his head.

Bennett also attempted to revive the boy by pumping his chest, but the boy started vomiting through his nose.

The mother then checked and realised that her son had stopped breathing, and they both rushed him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Meanwhile, residents of Savitri Road in Waterhouse in Kingston, where Bennett had been living before moving to St Catherine to live with the child’s mother, had appealed for leniency on his behalf, although acknowledging that he had not shown any mercy to the child.

They described him as a very quiet person who mainly kept to himself.

According to them, they knew the mother and the child and were surprised about the incident as Bennett had not shown any dislike or ill will towards the boy when they were living in the community.

Some, however, expressed disappointment at his behaviour, while noting that no one should be that cruel towards a defenceless child.

Attorney-at-law Vinette Grant represented Bennett.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com