By Darren Bahaw

Copyright newsday

A MOTHER expressed absolute outrage and disappointment, on September 30, with the judicial system after the man who gunned down her only child in broad daylight in East Port of Spain and was sentenced to only seven years in jail.

The two and a half years the killer spent awaiting trial were subtracted from his sentence, leaving him to serve four years, seven months and 11 days.

Newsday confirmed that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is considering an appeal of the leniency of the judge’s sentence and has 14 days from the date of conviction, September 22, to challenge the matter in court.

A senior homicide officer who supervised the investigation also expressed outrage over the lenient sentence saying it sent the wrong message to would-be offenders and diminished the hard work of police officers.

The officer said the sentence reflected “a slap on the wrist” for a capital offence and the situation was aggravated as the offender was wearing an electronic ankle monitor as part of his bail conditions for another serious offence when he shot and killed a man.

Speaking via WhatsApp phone call from Brooklyn, New York, Nicole Harris criticised the judicial system, the Office of the DPP and the police investigators for failing to let her know the outcome of the case.

She said she called a senior homicide officer who told her sentence and was shocked.

“Are you kidding me? He mercilessly killed my child. And this is what it is.What is the name of that judge? Are you kidding me? This is what she gave that bastard for killing my child?” she responded.

Harris said the news left her “heartbroken” and sick, as she suffers from asthma.

“Things like this is what has caused people to do the vigilante business,” she said.

She described her son as “a loving, kind-hearted, caring child who would often times help the elderly.

“I was informed there was this particular old lady, whenever he saw her, you understand, he would help her with her bags.I understand she wept bitterly when she heard of his killing. She wept bitterly.”

Told that the matter is being considered for an appeal, Harris said, “I have no faith in the judicial system in TT. They have failed the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, failed my son who was murdered mercilessly, mercilessly. They failed him.”

“This sentence was totally unacceptable. Unacceptable.”

“My life is finished.My life is finished. My life is finished… I will never hear my son’s voice again.And the judicial system, they have failed miserably.

This is ridiculous. How can you give somebody four years for murdering someone mercilessly, mercilessly,” she said.

Rasheed Mustafa, then 18, admitted guilt under the felony murder construct in connection with the August 24, 2022, shooting death of Jevon Roberts in Belmont. He also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Justice Nalini Singh sentenced Mustafa, of Basilon Street, East Port of Spain, after approving his plea deal with the State, and calculating deductions for his guilty plea, time spent and his efforts at rehabilitation.

Mustafa received a seven-year sentence with hard labour for felony murder, reduced to four years, seven months and 11 days after deductions for time served and mitigating factors. For possession of a firearm and ammunition, he was sentenced to two years, with time spent in custody credited.

Aggravating factors considered by the judge included Mustafa’s use of a weapon, his co-ordination with others, and the fact that he was on bail and under electronic monitoring at the time of the killing.

His attorneys, however, stressed his youth, difficult upbringing, lack of prior prison breaches, and expression of remorse.

“The most appropriate aim for the Honourable Court to pursue in these circumstances is that of rehabilitation,” the defence submitted, arguing that Mustafa’s environment and upbringing contributed to his choices.

Justice Singh stressed the need for rehabilitation and noted Mustafa’s “flagrant disregard for the court’s authority” when committing the crime while on bail.

Roberts, 34, also known as “Temper” and “Yankee,” died of multiple gunshot wounds after being attacked in broad daylight.

Investigators tied Mustafa to the crime using CCTV footage and data from his court-ordered ankle monitoring device. His whereabouts were tracked, and police officers who previously interacted with him positively identified him at the Besson Street police station.

Mustafa was arrested in March 2023 and charged two months later.

The case was prosecuted by Maria Lyons-Edwards, Cassie Bisram and Afeisha Williams, while Michael Modeste and Chimere Gibson-Wadi, of the Public Defenders’ Department, represented Mustafa.

With reporting by JADA LOUTOO