Father pleads with judge to show his son's killer 'no mercy'

On what would have been his 44th birthday, the father of an American citizen called on the judge sentencing his son’s killer to show no mercy.

Leverne Lyons was gunned down after a fete on Cipriani Boulevard in 2009 during Carnival celebrations.

His father, Lester, speaking from the US in a victim-impact statement at Wednesday’s virtual hearing, said he wanted his son’s killer “locked away for the rest of his life.”

On Wednesday, the younger Lyons’s killer, Shawn McLean, appeared before Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds for a plea-agreement hearing at which he pleaded guilty to the lesser count of unlawful killing and manslaughter.

The judge accepted the plea deal between McLean and the State before she read the elder Lyons’s victim-impact statement.

He also broke down in tears when he spoke at the virtual hearing, which was stopped short for the grieving family.

Lyons said, “It is not about the grief I carry. Today is my son’s birthday.”

The judge apologised for the timing of the hearing.

It has been adjourned to October 25, when McLean’s attorneys, Larry Williams and Toni Roberts, will make a plea for mitigation before McLean is sentenced.

Referring to the plea-agreement legislation, proclaimed in 2019, Lyons said the State did not take into consideration its full impact when it was enacted.

He spoke after the judge read out his statement. Ramsumair-Hinds also told him she was not permitted by law to entertain some of his comments, as it called on her to accept or reject any part of it.

But, she commiserated, “The law has no business to put a fetter on your grief. You have a full licence to grieve.”

However, she told him she could not meet his request for his son’s killer to be tried for nothing less than first-degree murder and for him to be “locked away for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole.”

“I hope you will someday you would understand I am fettered by my profession, my oath and the application of the law,” the judge told the grieving father.

She said it was her oath that allowed her, in good conscience, to consider whether to accept the terms of the plea deal.

“I can reject it if they do not meet the justice of the case.

“I appreciate my words are empty to you.”

She also told him Trinidad and Tobago did not have categories of murder.

“There is no such thing as first-degree murder. We don't have categories, and if we did, the law would still not prevent us from accepting this type of plea.”

After apologising for the timing of the hearing, and extending condolences to the family, Ramsumair-Hinds reiterated her commitment to do right for all stakeholders in the criminal justice system.

“There is no way I can give you anything that will satisfy you. I do have to do right by my oath.”

The plea agreement also suggested a sentence starting point and a final sentence.

The judge said there was nothing to suggest the agreement on the plea would cause the administration of justice to suffer disrepute.

In his prepared statement, Lyons spoke of the “devastating impact” the “cold-blooded murder” of his son had on the family’s lives and their psyche.

He said Leverne had two children when he was killed, a one-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl who had to get counselling to help her stabilise her life.

Neither child, he said, would know what it would be to have a father with whom they could share their joys and proud moments.

“Is this right for an innocent child to endure this trauma for the rest of their life?”

He said his son’s killing was “reckless and callous.”

He also said his son’s killer who had no value for human life and had created an unnecessary void.

“Should he not be tried for anything other than first-degree murder?”

He said Leverne was killed in the presence of his brothers and cousins.

“They cannot shut this out of their lives.”

He developed PTSD after getting the call about his son’s death.

“One thoughtless act of violence shattered an entire family.”

According to the facts read out after he was arraigned, Lyons and his group were sitting on the pavement at Cipriani Boulevard, Port of Spain, when McLean passed them. There was an exchange of words and McLean left with his sister.

He returned and there was an argument. One of the men armed himself with bottles because of what looked like a gun in McLean’s waist. He threw the bottle at McLean, who drew his gun and fired at Lyons.

Lyons was taken to St Clair Medical Centre, while McLean ran and his sister joined him. He was trailed by an off-duty police officer, PC Sirjoo, who called the command centre and kept his eyes on McLean until reinforcements arrived.

McLean was arrested by other police officers on Richmond Street. His sister was also stopped and the gun was found in her boots. His hands were swabbed, with his consent, for gunpowder residue and he was identified by six eyewitnesses, including PC Sirjoo, before he was charged with Lyons’s murder.

The State was represented by Indira Chinebas and Solange Devenish.