‘I snapped’

Kayodi Satchell claimed she had no intention of cutting eight-year-old Danielle Rowe’s throat on that fateful day of June 8, 2023, but she just snapped.

It was the day the child that she lost would have been born and she felt Danielle’s father, who she believed infected her with HIV, should also lose his child.

“She said on the day of the incident she was overcome with grief and never intended to hurt the victim but planned to use her to get her former partner, Norval Rowe, to respond but neither he nor the mother of the deceased would respond,” Justice Carolyn Tie-Powell said, quoting excerpts from Satchell’s social enquiry report during yesterday’s sentencing.

Looking back, the now remorseful and tearful 32-year-old dental assistant, who had suffered a miscarriage after learning of her HIV status, said she is utterly sorry for what she did.

Satchell, who pleaded guilty to murder and child stealing in September, was yesterday sentenced to life in prison and ordered to serve 27 years and four months in prison for Danielle’s murder before being eligible for parole. She was also sentenced to four years and 11 months for child stealing. The sentences are to run concurrently.

Justice Tie-Powell, in handing down the sentence, shaved off one year and 10 months for time spent on remand. She also discounted the child killer’s sentence by 10 per cent for her early guilty plea.

NO FORGIVENESS

On hearing Satchell’s statement yesterday, a distraught Sudiene Mason said she has now changed her mind about forgiving her for killing her child.

“I don’t have any forgiveness for her anymore when I heard that she took my baby’s life because that day was supposed to be her due date,” said Mason, who wept during the delivery of the sentence.

The mother of two said she had considered forgiving Satchell after she had apologised and after hearing that she was infected with a disease that she would now have to live with for the rest of her life, but now has a change of heart.

Satchell abducted the second-grade student from Braeton Primary and Infant School in St Catherine on June 8 last year. Danielle was found later that day with her throat slashed on Roosevelt Avenue in St Andrew. She died from her injuries at the Bustamante Hospital for Children two days later.

According to Satchell, in her social enquiry report, she panicked after taking Danielle, as she did not know what to do with her and at one point contemplated leaving her at the police station. However, she said she went to urinate and while Danielle was standing in front of her with her back turned, she saw a knife and “tek it up and do it”.

Satchell, who had indicated that she was truly sorry, said she had tried desperately to speak with Norval after learning of her HIV status but that he did not respond. Neither did Danielle’s mother.

Phone records showed that she had called Danielle’s parents several times on June 8 and once on June 10.

‘FRIGHTENINGLY DARK AND SINISTER’

The child killer said she had also sought help from the Independent Commission of Investigations, Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse and from senior officers at the police station where Norval worked, but was unsuccessful.

Justice Tie-Powell, however, said she found that there were significant levels of premeditation and treated that as one of the aggravating factors.

“Even if the initial intention, as the defence suggested, was not to murder, the initial plan morphed into something frighteningly dark and sinister, as the accused said on the date that would have been the expected delivery date for her child, she thought ‘he should lose his child as I lost mine’,” the judge said.

“The accused had Danielle for close to two hours before slashing her throat. The element of spite and revenge is palpable and appalling and the person who was on the receiving end had done nothing to the accused,” she added.

Satchell told probation officers in her social enquiry report that in 2019 she had a very abusive relationship with Danielle’s father but that after it ended they rekindled for one day last year. However, she said following that encounter, Norval left a message on Facebook saying, “If he was her he would get tested for HIV”.

Thinking Norval was scheming, Satchell blocked him and later got involved in a new relationship and became pregnant before being told about her HIV status.

Satchell did not take the news well and, as a result, was placed on suicide watch and had a subsequent miscarriage.

‘I AM VERY MUCH PLEASED’

Following yesterday’s sentencing, Danielle’s mother said, “I am very much pleased, she got the life sentence that I wanted.”

Mason also said she was convinced that Satchell was being truthful about how she contracted the virus and is of the view that Norval should be held accountable for his actions.

“I always say he is the reason why Danielle’s life was taken. If him never do wa him do mi baby woulda deh here,” she said. “Danielle know har so if dat never happen, Danielle would a still be here today.”

Justice Tie-Powell said the only appropriate sentence was life, as the victim was stolen from school and killed brutally.

“It was heinous, it was savage, it was brutal, and it was nonsensical,” she said.

The judge, in arriving at the sentence, began at a starting point of 23 years, which she said was higher than what was used by the Court of Appeal in the case of Quacie Hart, who stabbed and killed Jamaica College student Nicholas Francis during a bus robbery on October 26, 2016. Justice Tie-Powell said what Satchell did was more egregious.

In increasing the sentence to 33 years, the judge considered factors such as the age of the child, increasing prevalence of child murder, the nature and manner of the killing, that there was a breach of the child’s trust, as well as the devastating impact of the murder on the family whose world has now been left in disarray and pain.

Mitigating factors such as Satchel’s training and gainful employment and her mental state were also factored in, resulting in her sentence being reduced to 32 years before the 10 per cent and pre-remand sentence was applied, bringing it down to 27 years and four months.

“It cannot be downplayed that the circumstances of this offence are tremendously disturbing and the life-altering impact this has had on the family of Danielle. There will perhaps always be a shred of sadness over their lives,” Justice Tie-Powell said.

She further noted that what Satchell did was sheer evil.

EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFT

Attorney Matthew Hyatt, who was watching the proceedings for Danielle’s mother, welcomed the ruling as being very appropriate, given the callous and brutal manner in which the child was murdered.

He described the sentence as an early Christmas gift for the family and expressed hope that it would begin the process of closure for them.

At the same time Hyatt emphasised that, “What is done can’t be undone. Persons need to look on and see that whenever you commit these heinous and senseless crimes, you will be brought to justice.”

Satchell’s attorney Donnovan Collins, who appeared along with Pierre Rogers, said he accepted the sentence, as the judge had considered all the relevant principles.

As for his client, Collins said she is sad but will have to focus now on rehabilitation.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com