Rushane Barrett, the man responsible for the gruesome murder o a Clarendon mother and her four children was today sentenced to serve five concurrent life sentences.
Barnett was given a prison sentence of 61 years and 8 months, before being eligible for parole.
Barnett claimed that in the days prior to the murders, his cousin had treated him disrespectfully. He said a customer came to the premises and he had served the customer, but his cousin got upset and told him he was never to serve her customers. She also took the money out of his hand and splashed water on his face. He said that he felt insulted. He claimed that the stabbings were the result of a subsequent interaction with his cousin.
In July, Barnett was found guilty on five counts of murder in connection with the killings.
Justice Leighton Pusey of the Home Circuit Court handed down the sentence.
On June 21, his cousin Kimesha Wright and her children Kimanda Smith, 15, Sharalee Smith, 12, Rafaella Smith, 5, and 23-month-old Kishawn Henry Jr were discovered with chop wounds and their throats slit inside their Cocoa Piece home in Clarendon.
Despite the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions’ notice that the Crown would seek the death penalty, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn argued at the sentencing hearing in September that Barnett, who pleaded guilty to five counts of murder, should receive life in prison and serve no less than 60 years before being eligible for parole.
According to the DPP, the death penalty was withdrawn because he pleaded guilty to the charges.