On February 27th of 2008, 22-year-old Cotton Tree storekeeper Mirna Sanabria was killed by gunmen as she held her 7 month old baby. The three men were pulling off an armed robbery, and stormed into the store robbed various members of the Sanabria family and then shot her in the neck as she sat with the baby in her arms.
Today, Nelson Gibson who police say was one of the men responsible was found guilty of murder. A jury of 7 women and 5 men deliberated for about two and a half hours before it arrived at a verdict. Gibson was sentenced to life imprisonment by Justice Troadio Gonzalez.
Gibson gave a statement from the dock in which he said he was not present. One witness appeared to corroborate this - and said that he was at his grandfather's house, but apparently, the jury was unconvinced.
Gibson was represented by Senior Counsel Dean Lindo while senior crown counsel Cecil Ramirez prosecuted. The second defendant Sherman Anderson was acquitted in a no case submission made on Monday by his attorney senior Counsel Simeon Sampson.
