The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A JUDGE yesterday said she would not sentence a schizophrenic man concerning the stabbing death of his five-year-old brother until hearing the expert opinion of a psychiatrist who can speak to the convict’s mental state.

Justice Indra Charles had previously requested that a psychiatrist from the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre appear in court to speak to the mental health of 23-year-old Wenzell Knowles who is awaiting sentencing concerning the December 20, 2012 death of Dequan Clarke.

Knowles pleaded not guilty to murder when formally arraigned in the Supreme Court in January 2014 and maintained that plea when the charge was read to him last October for the expected start of his trial. However, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility instead and the sentencing was adjourned on three occasions until February 17.

Up to yesterday’s hearing, a physician from the facility had not appeared in the court in that regard, the judge noted. “This is a case where we need the psychiatrist to tell us more about this young man,” Justice Charles stressed.

“I will not release him into society until he is rehabilitated and no longer poses a threat to the family or the community,” the judge added before adjourning the matter to March 1.

Sagina Pratt, a probation officer at the Department of Rehabilitative and Welfare Services, said yesterday that the 23-year-old had attended high school in the United States in order to pursue his dream of playing professional basketball.

However, due to financial constraints, he returned to The Bahamas. He had started using marijuana and keeping bad company.

Knowles, she said, claimed that he was unable to recall what transpired the day of his brother’s death.

“He claims he’s saddened by his brother’s death,” the probation officer said.

On the evening in question, the five-year-old was found in a bedroom wrapped in a sheet with a stab wound in his chest. His throat was slit.

After undergoing psychiatric evaluation at the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre, physicians determined that Knowles not only suffered from marijuana abuse, but that he was also a schizophrenic.

Knowles had explained his actions, comparing the killing to stories in the Bible and suggested he was making “a sacrifice like Abraham had to sacrifice his son”.

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels and acts, resulting in difficulty distinguishing between what is real and what is imaginary. It may also leave the individual unresponsive or withdrawn and affected individuals may have difficulty expressing normal emotions in social situations.