Man gets nine more years in prison for killing pregnant mother

A 25-year-old man from Las Lomas, who stabbed his pregnant mother to death in 2019 because he was angry over being neglected as a child, will have to serve almost a decade longer in prison before he is released.

Michael Joseph was initially charged with his mother’s murder but was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter by provocation based on a plea agreement recently negotiated by his attorney, Michelle Ali, of the Public Defenders’ Department (PDD).

In deciding on the appropriate sentence for Joseph, Justice Sherene Murray-Bailey accepted the 27-year starting point agreed by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) under the plea deal.

After applying a two-year reduction for mitigating circumstances, a one-third discount for his guilty plea, and deducting the time he spent on remand awaiting trial, Joseph was left with nine years, one month and 29 days to serve before completing his sentence.

Justice Murray-Bailey directed that he be allowed to participate in counselling, anger management, substance abuse, and rehabilitative programmes in prison before his release.

Joseph was accused of murdering his 36-year-old mother, Roxanne Mack-Kampo, on August 24, 2019.

Joseph was born when Mack-Kampo was 16 years old, and she left him in the care of her elderly parents as his father was not actively involved in his upbringing.

On the night of the incident, Mack-Kampo’s sister, Rodha, was awakened by loud screams coming from her sister’s bedroom.

When she entered, she saw the then 18-year-old Joseph leaning over his mother while repeatedly attacking her with an object, which was later identified as a kitchen knife.

Rodha challenged Joseph, who attacked her with the knife before running away.

Joseph’s five-year-old sister was also in the room but escaped unscathed.

Mack-Kampo was taken to hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead on arrival. An autopsy revealed that she had been stabbed 42 times in the head and upper body.

When Joseph was arrested by police, he confessed.

He claimed that he was angry with his mother for abandoning him and showing more care and affection for his younger siblings.

“I went into my mom’s room and I started to think and that is where all the frustration and thing start to build up and then I explode and strat to stab up everything,” Joseph said.

He also expressed deep regret for his actions.

“I ask God, my little sister, my aunt, and my mother for forgiveness. And all I was asking for is a second chance to make what I made wrong right,” Joseph said.

Joseph claimed that he had a strained relationship with his mother and viewed his grandparents, who raised him, as his parents.

He admitted that he started smoking marijuana when he was 12 years old and consuming excessive alcohol at 16, which led to him dropping out of school after writing Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

A probation officer’s report, considered in sentencing, revealed that Joseph was sent for psychiatric evaluation but was not diagnosed with any mental illness.

Joseph was also charged with assaulting and wounding his aunt, but Justice Murray-Bailey ruled that he had served the sentences for those crimes while on remand.

Joseph was also represented by Sarah Julien. The DPP’s Office was represented by Chenelle Moe and Roger Hinds.