Man who pleaded guilty to Trelawny church murder gets 45 years in prison
Published:Tuesday | July 25, 2023 | 7:35 PM
Thirty-three-year-old Dwight Bingham was today sentenced to 45 years in prison for the murder of Andrea Lowe-Garwood in a church in Trelawny in January 2021.
The sentence was handed down by Chief Justice Bryan Sykes in the Trelawny Circuit Court.
Senior Deputy of Public Prosecutions Claudette Thompson, who prosecuted the case, submitted that there were aggravating factors.
"The murder took place in broad daylight, [and] the gun has not been recovered. It happened in a church while worship service was ongoing. The antecedent report pointed to what could be described as a contract killing," she said.
"You are a dangerous man. You travelled from Montego Bay to Falmouth with one intention and that was to kill Mrs Lowe-Garwood. It did not matter to you whether there were licensed firearm holders in church. You were prepared to take the risk. You had no scruples of conscience. I will have to send you away for a very long time," Sykes said at the hearing.
He then sentenced Bingham to 45 years on the murder charge and 25 years on the charge of illegal possession of firearm.
The sentences are to run concurrently, meaning that he will serve 45 years.
He benefited from a sentencing reduction of three years because of time spent in custody.
Lowe-Garwood was shot and killed on January 31, 2021 while worshipping at the Agape Christian Fellowship Church in Trelawny by a man who sat in the pew behind her.
The gunman subsequently escaped in a waiting motor car.
Bingham pleaded guilty on July 3 to the charges of murder and illegal possession of a firearm.
Leon Hines, the getaway driver pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm and being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to six years in prison on March 25, 2021.
- Leon Jackson
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