A Jamaican woman was sentenced to 42 years in prison for murdering her girlfriend during a dispute in The Bahamas last year.
The sentence was handed down on Nadisha Beckford by a judge in The Bahamas on Tuesday.
Beckford was convicted in June for fatally stabbing 31-year-old Lakiesha Mackey in the parking lot of the Mayfair Hotel along West Bay Street on February 20, 2021.
The two women had an argument, and it is alleged Beckford stabbed Mackey several times.
The wounded woman was taken to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries two days later.
The Nassau Guardian reported that at the trial, where Beckford did not testify but relied on her record of an interview with the police, the Jamaican contended that she stabbed Mackey in self-defense.
Beckford claimed the woman attacked her with a broken bottle, which she eventually managed to wrestle from her hands.
The prosecution poked several holes in Nadisha Beckford’s story with an audio recording of Beckford bragging about the murder to one of her friends.
The Jamaican reportedly bragged about the stabbing of Mackey, describing herself as a “vampire”, and saying she would “drink” Mackey’s blood.
“… Call me when she dead,” Beckford reportedly told the individual in the recording.
Beckford further damaged her own case when a video surfaced of her confessing to killing Mackey in self-defense.
This theory was rejected by the jury as they found her guilty of murder.
At her sentencing hearing on Tuesday, her attorney, Public Defender Dorsey McPhee, recommended that she be given a 12-year sentence, pointing out that his client was remorseful.
Additionally, McPhee said Beckford was of the view that the jury didn’t return a just verdict.
But prosecutor Cassie Bethell asked for a range of 40 to 45 years of imprisonment for the Jamaican whom he describe as a career criminal.
According to Bethell, a sentence in that range would be more appropriate given Beckford’s prior convictions for violence and the circumstances of the present case.
Bahamian judge, Justice Renae McKay, in handing down her 42-year sentence, weighed the “prevalence of murder and the particular circumstances of the offense”, the media report said.
Of note, the judge credited Beckford for the 15 months and 27 days she spent in police custody awaiting trial.
McPhee has indicated to the Bahamian media that his client will appeal both the conviction and sentence.
