The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

AN 18-year-old woman who admitting to taking part in the carnage that led to teenage mother Breanna Mackey’s death last year is now a free woman.

The teenager, whose name has been withheld because she was charged as a minor, was sentenced to two years in prison yesterday pursuant to a plea agreement she reached with the Crown.

The sentence was ordered to run from the date of her incarceration, January 25, 2018. However, because prison terms are not calculated on a full calendar year, her time expired on May 25 of this year.

Prior to being sentenced/released, the woman, who turned 18 on August 21, pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to causing grievous harm to Mackey on January 25, 2018.

Mackey, a mother of one, was stabbed to death a day after celebrating her 19th birthday. And it was all because she broke the 18-year-old’s cellphone and refused to repair it.

According to the facts, sometime around 5.48pm on the date in question, police control room was contacted about reports that a female was stabbed about the body in the Key West Street area off Cordeaux Avenue. A crew of police officers was consequently dispatched to investigate. 

Upon their arrival, a female who was identified as the victim’s sister, Latisha Woodside, directed officers to a brown and white apartment complex on the eastern side of Key West Street. On the porch, just in front of door number 9, officers discovered a semi-conscious female lying face down suffering from four stab wounds to the upper back and two stab wounds to the right arm. 

The woman, later revealed to be Mackey, was subsequently transported to Princess Margaret Hospital where she died around 8.28pm.

Further investigations led officers to arrest 22-year-old Thea Williams who, when interviewed on the matter, admitted to killing Mackey. Williams is serving 25 years for the crime. She is further ordered to undergo one year of counselling, inclusive of anger management lessons, and another year of probation upon completion of her sentence.

Another 18-year-old woman, whose name has been withheld because she too was charged as a minor, admitted her involvement in the offence in that she knew of the weapon used to kill Mackey, and that she also kicked the deceased during the fatal altercation. That teenager is serving 12 years in prison as part of a plea deal, non-inclusive of any further time deductions. She is also ordered to serve one year’s probation after completing her sentence.

The teenager from yesterday’s sentencing however, when interviewed by police, admitted to throwing a bottle at Mackey, but couldn’t say if it actually hit the deceased.

Prior to sentencing/releasing the teenager, Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson lamented the fact that Mackey lost her life over a “fairly simple item” such as a cellphone, and said although the teenager will be released from custody, Mackey’s death is something she “should not forget”. The judge also admonished the young woman to not forget how her attorney, Tamara Taylor-Storr, fought for her throughout the whole ordeal.

The judge further cautioned the young woman to be wary of the company she keeps going forward, because as was the case with Mackey, she can “end up being in the wrong place at the wrong time, involved in the wrong thing”. She said moving forward, she should instead involve herself with “positive people doing positive things”.

Yesterday’s sentencing marked the fourth in connection with Mackey’s death. In April, Davanya Lawes was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to causing grievous harm to Mackey as part of a plea deal.

The time Lawes has already spent on remand, a year and some four months, was ordered to be factored into her prison sentence. She is also ordered to perform community service and undergo counselling inclusive of anger management classes.