HAMILTON, Bermuda – A 27-year-old man has been jailed for life by a Supreme Court judge after he admitted stabbing to death his father, a former football team manager, in a frenzied knife attack.
Tyshaun Brown (Photo credit: Blaire Simmons)Sentencing Tyshaun Brown on Wednesday for manslaughter after he stabbed his father Amon 26 times, Puisne Judge Shade Subair Williams said the defendant had acted with the aggression of a “wild dog”.
She said: “The deceased, a 52-year-old family man, was beaten to the point of being knocked to the ground and then stabbed mercilessly by the accused, who relentlessly pursued his father as he sought to escape, shirtless and desperately knocking on a neighboring door for rescue.
“Having already butchered his poor father, who held his hand to his stomach wounds while staggering up a hill, the accused persisted in the attack with the ferocity of an enraged wild dog.”
Brown admitted manslaughter when he appeared in court last month.
Mrs. Justice Subair Williams, ordering that Brown should serve at least 12 years in prison before being eligible for parole, warned there was a significant risk he would cause serious harm to others.
“Instead of dying as an old man in the loving company and care of his family, Amon Brown suffered a cruel and prolonged fatal attack, knowing that it was his own son that did this to him,” she said.
The judge said Brown was aware he needed treatment and that alcohol contributed to his outbursts of rage, but he had still opted to drink on the day of the attack on his father which occurred in July 2020 in Warwick parish after the pair argued over the defendant’s former wife.
She said Brown’s mental health issues were discussed during a 2019 case in which he was sentenced to three years’ probation for violently resisting arrest.
Members of Brown’s family appealed after Wednesday’s sentencing for more work by the courts and the authorities to deal with trauma and mental health problems.
Valerie Raynor, mother of the victim who was a former player and manager of the Boulevard Community Club football team known as the Blazers, and grandmother of his killer, said: “It was not until he inflicted the 26 stab wounds that took his father’s life that they are saying he had diminished responsibilities.”
Detective Sergeant Jason Smith said after the hearing: “There are no winners in this case.
“The family is distraught, understandably, and at least today there is some satisfaction that justice has been served.”
