‘Bam Bam’ jailed for 14 years for killing drinking buddy

A man previously convicted for the offences of manslaughter and wounding, was on Tuesday, sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for unlawfully killing his drinking buddy. Lexroy Garraway, aka ‘Bam Bam’, 37, of Pomeroon was initially indicted for the May 23, 2019, murder of Eric Nurse, called ‘Black Boy’ which occurred at Takutu Landing, Mazaruni River.

He, however, opted to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter when he appeared before Essequibo High Court Judge Jo Ann Barlow.

Reports are that the two men were drinking at a shop on the day in question when Garraway left and went into a room that was occupied by a woman. The woman reportedly began crying out for help. Nurse reportedly went to her rescue, dragging Garraway out of the room. Shortly after, a scuffle ensued between the two men. The woman later returned to the room where she found Nurse lying in a pool of blood.

Nurse was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. It was reported that Garraway admitted to stabbing Nurse 15 times in his caution statement to the Police. Meanwhile, Garraway’s sentencing hearing was kept on Tuesday. “Have mercy on me please…,” the confessed killer implored Justice Barlow. During an interview with a probation officer, Garraway said that Nurse attacked him with a knife and he took away the weapon and stabbed the man about his body.

A report from the prison about Garraway’s conduct detailed that he is a recidivist due to the fact that he has been convicted on more than one occasion. A prison officer described him as being “moody”, stating “simple things tend to aggravate him majority of the time”. On a scale from one -10, the officer rated his behaviour at four.

For her part, Justice Barlow, in calculating an appropriate sentence for the convict, considered the following factors: the number of injuries the victim received, that a sharp instrument was used to inflict the injuries, Garraway’s prior convictions, his expression of remorse, his early guilty plea and the serious nature of the offence.

From the finding of the prison report, Justice Barlow said it appeared as though Garraway is unable to control his emotions. To this end, she instructed that he be exposed to programmes tailored to his needs during incarceration. Further, the Judge encouraged him to be respectful to his superiors in order to be able to coexist in jail.

In the end, she sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment, less the time he has already spent in pre-trial detention. Garraway was represented by Attorney-at-Law Latchmie Dindyal, while Senior State Counsel Tiffini Lyken presented the prosecution’s case.