The four men convicted in the 2011 shooting and beheading of a woman and her daughter in Lauriston, St. Catherine, were sentenced to life in prison Wednesday afternoon.

 

Adrian Campbell, Roshane Goldson and Fabian Smith had pleaded guilty to non-captial murder at the start of the trial last month. 

 

Kemar Riley was found guilty by a seven member jury last month before the Home Circuit Court. 

 

Riley was sentenced to life in prison and will have to serve 52 years before becoming eligible for parole. 

 

Adrian Campbell and Fabian Smith will have to serve 44 years before becoming eligible for parole while Roshane Goldson will have to serve 46 years before becoming eligible for parole.

 

The Director of Public Prosecutions reported that on July 19, 2011, gunmen invaded the home of 40 year old Charmaine Cover-Rattray and her 18 year old daughter, Joeith Lynch, a former student of the Queen's School.

 

The women were shot, chopped and beheaded by their attackers.

 

In passing sentence, Justice Viviene Harris said the women where butchered and their heads discarded like garbage.

 

Prior to the sentencing, the court heard a Victim Impact Statement from a family member of the deceased.

 

The family member reported that Mrs Cover Rattray and her daughter were warned to leave the community as they had been marked for death.

 

The family member reported that Mrs Cover Rattray refused to leave and when encouraged to leave, Joeith insisted that she would not leave her mother behind.

 

They were killed the following day.

 

In the emotional address, the family member said relatives of the victims have been left traumatised by what they described as a senseless act. 

 

The relative said one of the men involved in the killing is also a family member of the deceased.

 

The relative reported that since the incident, other family members were forced to relocate to other parts of the country due to death threats issued to them via Facebook.