JAMAICAN-BORN accountant Alan Hunter has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in Florida after he pleaded guilty to the stabbing death of his 74-year-old mother, Amy, in February 2002.
Hunter, 45, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder Monday when he appeared in the Broward Circuit Court in Fort Lauderdale. The prison term is to be followed by 10 years of medically supervised probation, ordered Judge Elena Holmes.
MITIGATION PLEA
In his mitigation plea, Jamaican-born attorney David Rowe painted a picture of someone born into a comfortable middle class family but who had been troubled by mental illness for more than 20 years.
He said the case was about a loving son who stabbed his beloved mother to death. "This is a tragedy so awesome that even after months of wrestling with the basic facts that surround it everyone is saying how could this have happened," said Mr. Rowe.
MENTALLY ILL
Hunter attended DeCartaret College, Glenmuir High School and the University of the West Indies, Mona. The court heard that while attending the UWI, Hunter became mentally ill in 1980 and was treated by psychiatrist Dr. Charles Thesiger. Hunter was said to be suffering from a schizophrenic disorder - paranoid type.
Mr. Rowe said Hunter had no proper memory of the events of February 19, 2002 when he attacked his mother with a knife at the apartment they shared. His wife Rhona was injured as she tried to stop the attack on her mother-in-law.
The judge accepted a plea bargain and ordered that Hunter remain on his medication while in prison. He will be credited for 1,286 days spent in hospital and jail.
