San Juan man sentenced for beating woman to death

A SAN Juan man who served seven years in 1994 for beating a man in a brawl resulting in his death will serve another seven years, eight months and 29 days for killing a woman he knew in 2012.

A decade after he was released from prison for unlawfully killing a man in a fight, Dennis Wright, 65, also known as Dennis Cooper, confessed to killing Nikeisha Bonval on April 16, 2012.

Bonval was kicked, cuffed, choked and stamped in the face on Todd Street, San Juan.

Justice Geoffrey Henderson sentenced Wrighton on July 30. He accepted his plea deal with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to plead guilty to manslaughter.

Henderson told him women were not property and if the relationship was bad, he should just have moved on.

Bonvan was liming with friends when she received a call and went to Todd Street. It was after 10 pm.

A witness saw Wright kick and cuff her until she fell to the ground and then stamped on her face. The witness ran away after Wright saw her.

A worker at a nearby factory saw Wright run out of Todd Street and also saw Bonval bleeding at the side of the road, breathing heavily. She died ten days later in hospital.

Another witness said when she called Wright, on April 17, 2012, to tell him Bonval “might dead,” he said, “So wha'?”

He said he had called Bonval and told her to meet him on Todd Street corner. While there, her phone rang and he snatched it from her and answered it. When he heard a man’s voice, he began arguing with her before beating her.

When Bonval fell to the ground “like she dead,” he “hit she some hard ones,” then told her, “or you playing dead, I go f-----g kill you,” and he started kicking her.

He ran when he saw someone watching.

When he was arrested on April 29, 2012, he said he and Bonvan “get away” and he hit her with his right hand before she fell to the ground. He also said he was shaking her and left her. He said he could not remember how many times he hit her.

The next day, he confessed to another officer.

Henderson started with a 25-year sentence, added ten years because of his previous manslaughter conviction, but brought it down to 30 years because of the mitigating factors he considered, including Wright’s age; a head injury which affected his memory; his remorse; his confession; and steps towards rehabilitation.

Wright also received his one-third discount for his guilty plea, and the 12 years, three months and a day were deducted, leaving him with seven years, eight months and 29 days left to serve.

Ayanna Norville and Michelle Ali of the Public Defenders’ Department represented Wright. Chenelle Moe and Taireke Davis represented the Office of the DPP.