Levi Quewell was 17 years old when he was stabbed and killed by 15-year-old Steven Manzanero. It happened in March of 2005 at the San Ignacio annual fair. The accused, Steven Manzanero is now 18 and was convicted of manslaughter 10 days ago. Today was sentencing and Justice Herbert Lord gave him a term of 15 years in jail. The maximum sentence was life behind bars. And for the family of the victim, 15 years just isn’t enough – especially considering that he will be eligible for parole in 5 years. His entire family was at court and his father Valeriano Quewell told us why the sentence is not satisfactory.
Valeriano Quewell, Father of Deceased
“I wanted them to give him lifetime because my son is not going to come back again. I see that it is not justice.”
Brother of Deceased,
“I expected like 50 or lifetime because I miss my brother a lot.”
Though Manzanero has spent the last three years on remand, Justice Lord ordered that his 15 year sentence begin today. No one appeared to make pleas for leniency in sentencing, but his attorney Hubert Elrington begged the court consider the fact that after Quewell was stabbed, his injuries were complicated because doctors failed to contain a serious post-surgical infection. Dr. Mario Estradabran had testified that Quewell’s injuries were indeed not life threatening.
