21-y-o gunslinger pleads guilty to murder, other charges
Published:Tuesday | November 21, 2023 | 12:09 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
A 21-year-old man, who killed a man and a woman and wounded two others in separate shooting incidents between last December and July this year, is to be sentenced on December 7.
The defendant, Deandre Grant, a construction worker of Bellefield district, Manchester, and Canaan Heights in May Pen, Clarendon, pleaded guilty last Tuesday on an indictment with 12 counts and was remanded by Justice Leighton Pusey.
The charges consist of two counts of murder, two counts of wounding with intent, six counts of making use of a firearm to commit a felony, and two counts of assault with intent to rob.
In a statement on Monday, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said: “The evidentiary material revealed that the offence occurred in four separate incidents within the parish of Manchester.
“The evidentiary material further disclosed that a firearm, which was seized from the accused and other persons by officers in the Westmoreland Division on the 2nd day of August, was featured in all four incidents,” the statement further noted.
In the first murder incident, Grant and his accomplices shot and killed 21-year-old Soniel Muschette, otherwise called 'Shine', a construction worker of Comfort district, Manchester, on December 8, 2022, about 4 p.m.
Muschette was murdered along the Kendal Bridge in the parish.
In the second murder incident, which occurred on March 3, this year, Catherine Matthews, a chef of New Green district, Manchester, and her common-law husband were walking home in their community when Grant and others pounced upon them.
The hoodlums opened gunfire on the couple, hitting them multiple times, before escaping into the area. The injured persons were transported to hospital, where Matthews was pronounced dead and her spouse treated.
Grant struck again at a plaza in Mandeville on March 6, where two security guards were attacked by three men, one of whom was armed with a handgun. The attackers then restrained and demanded money from one of the two guards. The demands were not met, and a tussle ensued. However, the perpetrators fled after a gun went off.
Grant's last victim, a minimart and bar operator, was shot and injured on July 20, at 12:45 a.m, after hosting an event.
Following, the series of incidents, Grant was arrested on August 2 in Westmoreland in relation to a separate incident. He was later handed over to the Manchester police and charges laid against him on October 4.
In the meantime, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has commended the Jamaica Constabulary Force sleuths as well as the ballistics experts at the Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine for their detailed investigation and analysis.