Several jury members gasped after Justice Albert Redhead handed down a life sentence with no parole to convicted murderers Allen Baptiste and Yan Edwards in High Court yesterday morning.
The hearing began with a long submission from Senior Crown Counsel Valston Graham, who offered the court guidelines for sentencing.
“We say the killing of Keri Harrigan was heinous, brutal and savage,” the prosecutor said. “It was planned, and it was executed vigorously.”
Messrs. Edwards, 32, and Baptiste, 34, were convicted of killing Mr. Harrigan through joint enterprise on March 16, 2011, when the young man was shot twice in the back of the head outside the Long Look Clinic.
In his sentencing, the judge said the seriousness of the offence was so “exceptionally high” that it warranted a life sentence “as a starting point.”
“The act was premeditated,” Mr. Redhead added. “It was quite clear that the convicted men imported guns and masks for the execution of Keri Harrigan. He was literally executed. They crept up behind him and shot him in the head. He stood no chance.”
See the March 28, 2013 edition for full coverage.