Jermaine Dawkins: Old Harbour man to spend 15 years in prison for killing girlfriend

The sentence was handed done by Justice Carol Lawrence-Beswick in the Supreme Court.

Last month Dawkins, 23, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in relation to the death of 18-year-old Allen, who is the mother of his two-year-old child.

On September 14, 2019 Allen’s decomposing body was removed from a shallow grave at the back of the yard at Patrick Street, Old Harbour.

Based on investigation Dawkins became the prime suspect with the police issuing a warrant for his arrest. He however, managed to elude the police for several months before his eventual capture in July 2020 during an operation in Kitson Town, north St Catherine.

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When he appeared before the courts last month, Dawkins, acting on advice of counsel pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The trial
During the trial the court heard that the relationship between the young couple deteriorated to the point where it led to physical confrontations on many occasions with both sets of parents urging them it was in their best interest to separate.

However, on the night of September 7, 2019 – the day both were last seen prior to the gruesome discovery of Allen’s body and subsequent capture of Dawkins – there was an altercation between the two.

Dawkins, in a caution statement, said during their tussle on that fatal night he grabbed Allen by the throat until he realized she wasn’t moving. He noted however, that his action wasn’t meant to take her life, but upon seeing that she was now dead panicked and decided to bury her in a goat pen at the back of the premises.

In burying the body, Dawkins was assisted by a family member, turned prosecution witness, who told the court he only complied because Dawkins had a gun in his possession and he feared for his own life. The witness said visibility was extremely poor as this was in the night and he only saw the foot of the person and was unaware that it was the body of Allen.

But almost a week later when alarms were raised about Allen’s disappearance the witness said he informed relatives that Dawkins had buried a body in the yard.

The coroner’s report stated that due to the advance state of decomposition the pathologist could not determine the cause of Allen’s death but theorized that she may have died from asphyxia possibly due to strangulation.

Following the handing down of his sentence, Dawkins wept openly and apologized to Allen’s parents. Allen’s mother was also overwhelmed with emotions during the proceedings.

Having spent eight months already in custody, Dawkins will serve a further 14 years and four months in prison before his release.

Justice served
To those familiar with the matter there was no doubt in their heads that Dawkins was directly involved in the death of Allen. However, in the court of law, proving that he killed in cold blood the teen mother whom he was intimately in a relationship with, would have been very difficult for the prosecution and be a prolonged and protracted case with perhaps no end in sight foreseen, investigators argued.

The fact that Dawkins, on advice of his lawyers, entered a guilty plea so soon into this hearing is a factor in the final analysis and outcome that the judge would also take into account. 

The justice system has come under heavy public criticism in recent days for what many believed to be weak sentencing against a defendant who entered into a plea bargaining deal. And while there will be those persons who believed Dawkins deserved a longer sentence, 15 years imprisonment for manslaughter is neither a slap on the wrist when all factors and evidence presented are considered.