Man pleads guilty to murder, rape, kidnapping of 2 cousins and taxi driver

A man initially on over a dozen indictments for the murder and rape of a 19-year-old girl, the assault of her cousin, and the robbery and false imprisonment of a Curepe taxi driver in 2008 will be sentenced on July

Keston “Chucky” Allen, 35, was allowed to plead guilty to ten counts of felony murder, false imprisonment, robbery with aggravation, grievous sexual assault, larceny of a car, and rape which he did on Friday.

He returns to court on July 29 when it is likely he will be sentenced by Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds who has ordered bio-social and probation officers' reports to assist in his plea of mitigation which will be submitted in writing and to guide her in the sentencing process.

It is the State’s case that Allen and three others accosted the taxi driver in St Augustine on October 19, 2008, and ordered him to drive. The incident began at 12.30 am when the taxi driver was leaving a party when he offered a woman a drop. It turned out the woman was Allen’s accomplice since he and another man entered the car and she said they were with her.

The taxi driver was ordered to drive and 15 minutes later, they saw the two cousins and he was ordered to stop. The cousins were robbed of their cellphones and money and then were bundled into the stolen taxi and taken to an abandoned house in the Mt Lambert area. The girls begged to be let go.

At that house, the teenager was raped and told “she was a waste of time” after the act. Her cousin, who was 22 at the time, had her period but was sexually assaulted. Allen and his accomplices also forced one of the girls to perform oral sex on the taxi driver who later managed to escape and find his way to the St Joseph police station.

Allen and the others went in search of the taxi driver but were unable to drive his car because it was a manual. When they got to the Mt Dor, Champ Fleurs, area, they shot the women. When police found the car, the teenager was dead while her cousin received gunshot wounds about the body but survived the ordeal.

Allen was later arrested and identified by the older woman and the taxi driver.

Allen entered plea discussions with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and on June 22, it was agreed he would plead guilty to the ten counts while he will be discharged of the others.

On Friday, prosecutor Danielle Thompson said the State agreed to a starting-point sentence of 22 years for kidnapping and 25 for the rape count. She also gave the State’s position on the other counts. The count of felony murder will be at the discretion of the judge.

Also at the hearing, Thompson read from the victim impact statements of the teenager’s mother, the other victim who was sexually assaulted and shot, an aunt, and the taxi driver.

The cousin spoke of the ordeal and said her younger cousin “did not deserve to die like that.” The mother of the 19-year-old said her daughter’s death was traumatic. The girl was her only daughter. She was so torn by her death she did not want reminders of her at home and gave away her things in an effort to cope with her loss.

She said her daughter’s intention was to go to university and was, at the time, doing hairdressing to save for her further studies.

“I real miss her.” She said she still breaks down in tears at Christmas time. “I know nothing I can do can bring her back but I just want justice for her as all I have of her is her memory.”

The taxi driver said he too was traumatised and did not work for a year because he was afraid the men who abducted him would find him.

“I could have lost my life.”

The girls’ aunt, who also provided an victim impact statement, said it seemed that God had answered the family’s prayers when Allen was arrested.

Representing Allen was public defender Michelle Gonzales.