Mavado’s son, Dante Brooks sentenced to life imprisonment for murder

Motion of turntable with shallow depth of field. [Courtesy]

Dante Brooks, son of Jamaica Dancehall artiste Mavado, has been sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of the 2018 gruesome murder of Lorenza Thomas.

According to the Jamaica Observer, Dante, alongside his accomplice Andre Hinds, was tried before Supreme Court Judge Justice Leighton Pusey in the Home Circuit Court, Kingston, and was convicted of murder, arson and illegal possession of a gun and ammunition.

The 18-year-old was sentenced to 20 years for illegal possession of firearms and sentenced to 15 years for arson. He will serve 22 years in prison before he becomes eligible for parole.

His co-accused, Hinds, 26, was also sentenced to life imprisonment and must serve 17 years before parole. He was sentenced to 15 years each for illegal possession of firearms and arson.

Prosecutors submitted that Dante and Andre, who were in the company of five men, forced their way into the 23-year-old’s home in Cassava Piece on June 5, 2018, and committed the offence.

According to the victim’s father, Brooks and Hinds were positioned near his residence’s fence for hours before the shooting.

They later stormed into Lorenzo’s bedroom at 3am and sprayed him with bullets. The killers also attempted to sever his head, but aborted the plan as the cutlass they were using proved ‘dull’.

Thereafter, they poured gasoline on the house and the body before setting both on fire.