NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A woman accused of murdering a teenage mother four years ago has had that conviction substituted with a conviction of manslaughter and her 28 year prison sentence reduced to 15 years.
Zaria Burrows and Dervinque Edwards were sentenced to 28 years in prison last June after they were found guilty of the 19-year-old Breanna Mackey’s death in January 2018.
Edward’s appeal against her 28-year sentence and murder conviction were ultimately dismissed by the appellate court. The two women were the last of six women who were convicted and subsequently sentenced in connection with the murder of Mackey.
On February 11, 2020, Burrows and Edwards were convicted of the murder and on June 22nd, 2021, the they were both were sentenced to 28 years.
However taking into consideration time spent on remand Burrows was sentenced to 26 years and three months in prison and Edwards was sentenced to 25 years and two months.
According to facts of the the case, Burrows and Edwards were driving in a car along with four other persons. Burrows was the driver of the car and Edwards was a back seat passenger.
While driving, Williams saw Mackey walking on the road and Burrows drove her car quickly to catch up with Breanna and stopped it in a manner which prevented Breanna from getting away. A number of the occupants came out of the car and began attacking Breanna with some throwing stones and a bottle at her.
Williams took out a knife which was in her bag and stabbed Breanna a number of times. The incident occurred in the Key West Street area off Cordeaux Avenue reportedly over a broken cellular phone.
Burrows and Edwards defense was based on the argument that the women never intended to cause harm or kill Mackey and that there was insufficient evidence to prove they were guilty of the offence.
In April 2019, Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson sentenced the woman who committed the stabbing, Thea Williams, to 25 years in prison following a plea agreement.
In the judgment delivered by Sir Michael Barnett, appellate court found that, “in the case of Burrows the judge’s direction did not state that if the jury was not satisfied that Burrows knew Williams had the knife and intended to stab Breanna (they could find that the agreement to which Burrows was a party to was only to injure Breanna and not to kill Breanna), then Burrows would not be guilty of murder.”
Barnett continued: “This was clearly the defense of Burrows and she was entitled to have that specific defense put to the jury for consideration. I accept that the trial judge put to them a manslaughter verdict as an alternative to murder if they were satisfied that Burrows only intended to injure and not to kill Breanna.
“However, in my judgment the directions of the judge did not in the clearest terms put to the jury that it was a critical factor in determining whether Burrows had an intent to kill, Burrows knowledge that Williams had a knife at the time of the incident. It is for this reason that I am satisfied that the verdict of murder with respect to Burrows is unsafe. As the evidence is clear that Burrows knew that they had an intention to injure or harm Breanna, I would substitute a conviction for manslaughter in place of the conviction for muder.”
As for Edwards, Sir Michael said: “In the case of Edwards, it was her defense that she did not leave the vehicle and did not know that Williams had a knife or intended to stab Breanna. However, the evidence of Brown was that Edwards did leave the car and had a bottle in her hand.
“The evidence of McKenzie was that the girls threw the bottles at Breanna after Williams had stabbed her. On this evidence, a jury was entitled to find that Edwards participated in the attack on Breanna and knew that Williams had a knife and continued to attack Breanna after she was stabbed thus sharing the common intention of Williams to kill Breanna. In the circumstances, I cannot find that the verdict of murder is unsafe. I would dismiss her appeal against conviction.”
