Derek Achong
Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
A 21-year-old man from Erin has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after admitting to murdering a Venezuelan migrant after committing a robbery in 2022.
Tyrece Austin, of Rancho Quemado, Erin, received the sentence on Wednesday after pleading guilty to murder, possession of a firearm and ammunition, and three counts of robbery with aggravation before Justice Nalini Singh.
Austin was allowed to plead guilty to the capital offence as he was 17-years-old when he committed the crime with a neighbour and could not face the mandatory death penalty.
Austin and 24-year-old Joseph Aguillera were charged with murdering 24-year-old labourer Andres Lopez in July 2022.
Lopez and a Venezuelan friend were purchasing food from a cart located along the Naparima Mayaro Road when two men posing as customers robbed them, the cart’s Venezuelan operator and his wife.
The cart operator was pistol-whipped before the men took $1,000 from him. The men took cell phones from his wife and Lopez’s friend, and a small quantity of cash from Lopez before running away.
Lopez and his friend chased after the men.
Lopez was shot in his head as he attempted to confront one of the men as they ran through the car park of a Chinese restaurant.
He was taken for medical treatment but died a few days later while warded at hospital.
Austin was arrested by police officers hours after the robbery and shooting.
Although he initially denied any wrongdoing, the officers found a quantity of cash and a Venezuelan registration card of one of the victims in his pocket.
Aguillera was previously allowed to plead guilty and sentenced based on felony murder, under which the mandatory death penalty is waived in circumstances where death occurs during the commission of a lesser criminal offence.
Presenting a mitigation plea on Austin’s behalf, his lawyers Roshni Balkaran and Shiva Boodoo pleaded for leniency.
They called on Justice Singh to consider Austin’s age and the fact that he had a challenging upbringing and was forced to help provide for his family after his father left.
They also noted that Austin used his time on remand to improve his education by attaining CSEC passes and was remorseful.
Prosecutor Josiah Soo Hon presented a victim impact statement from Lopez’s sister.
She said that her brother was the breadwinner of their family and claimed that their mother was diagnosed with several medical conditions which she suggested were as a result of the grief she suffered from her son’s murder.
After considering the evidence in the case and factoring in discounts for his guilty pleas, Justice Singh decided on 18 years for murder, ten years for firearm and ammunition possession, and eight years for each of the robbery charges.
She ordered that the sentences be served concurrently meaning that Austin would have to serve the longest sentence before being released.
Jade Charles and Khi Cambridge appeared alongside Soo Hon for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
