Convicted murderer Kenton Brown was sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday for killing nurse Joan Lunn in 2001. The 27-year-old shot nurse Lunn at point blank range in the chest, as she was administering medical treatment to Anthony Saunders, a patient at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) in Nassau.
In the defence lawyer’s mitigating plea he asked that the judge be lenient and consider the fact that the accused had spent four years and eight months awaiting trial. Counsel for the defendant further submitted that though he had prior arrests, including stealing and possession of dangerous drugs, he had contributed to society while working for the Ministry of Health and had three children to support.
In delivering the sentence, Justice Isaacs was unmoved by the defence counsel’s submissions and said that, “even though the defence sought to reduce the potency of what was done … you are responsible [for] gunning down an innocent person.” He then pronounced the sentence while the prisoner struggled to control his emotions, biting his lips at intervals. The silence in the courtroom was palpable and emotionless, a direct contrast to the first sentencing, where Mr Brown’s girlfriend was said to have shouted out and burst into tears, after hearing the judge’s decision.
In 2001, Brown and Monte Thompson attempted to murder Anthony Saunders, who had been airlifted to PMH from Freeport, after being shot twice in the leg immediately following a drive-by shooting.
The gunmen gained access to the surgical ward of PMH, where Saunders was recuperating and opened fire, hitting Saunders in the chest three times.
A fourth bullet hit 65-year-old Nurse Lunn, killing her instantly. She had reportedly retired and then returned to nursing because of the shortage of such health care professionals in the Bahamas.
By: Nadine Thomas-Brown, The Nassau Guardian
