The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE sentencing hearing for convicted murderer and armed robber Devaughn "Short Man" Hall - who shot and killed a husband and wife from Deadman's Reef, West Grand Bahama - was adjourned yesterday.

Family members of the murdered victims Barry and Sheena Johnson had gathered outside the Supreme Court in Freeport awaiting Hall's arrival.

Hall, 24, was expected to appear for sentencing at 10am before Justice Estelle Gray-Evans but was not transferred from New Providence for the scheduled hearing.

Senior prosecutor Neil Brathwaite informed Justice Evans that the probationary report by the Department of Probation and Welfare Services was not ready and asked for an adjournment.

Jethlyn Burrows, Hall's attorney, was present.

Wynette Goodridge, probation officer, told Justice Evans the probation report was not finished, explaining she still needed to conduct interviews with some of Hall's relatives, including his brother and parents.

She said the report should be ready in early September. A psychiatric report is also expected to be presented before sentence is passed.

Justice Evans adjourned the sentencing hearing to September 13, which is the anniversary of the brutal murders of the Johnsons, who were shot in the head.

The victims' families were not in the courtroom but were standing outside at the rear of the courthouse waiting to get a glimpse of Hall.

When they were informed by reporters that the probation report was not finished and that Hall was not brought down from Nassau for the scheduled hearing, they were taken aback and noted the adjourned date was the anniversary of their loved ones' deaths.

Hall, a resident of Pinedale, Eight Mile Rock, was unanimously found guilty on May 10 of the double murders and armed robbery of the Johnsons, who were discovered shot dead at their residence on September 13, 2015.

According to court evidence, four armed masked men went to Deadman's Reef and shot Barry and Sheena Johnson at their triplex apartment. The couple was also robbed of a set of keys, and a GMC truck, valued at $8,000.

Hall, along with two other co-defendants - Paul Belizaire, 31, of Pinedale, Eight Mile Rock; and Kevin Dames, 28, of Holmes Rock - was on trial in the Supreme Court. Belizaire was found guilty of armed robbery, but the jury was hung on the two murder counts. He has since been sentenced to 25 years on the armed robbery conviction.

The jury also came back with hung verdicts on the two murder counts and armed robbery in relation to Dames, who had given the four armed men a ride to Deadman's Reef the night of the murders.

Two other co-defendants Alan Alcime, 24, of Hanna Hill, EMR; and Virgil Hall, 24, of Freeport, accepted a a plea deal with Office of the Attorney General and pleaded guilty to armed robbery and testified as witnesses for the Crown. They are serving nine years in prison.