Appeal Denied in Attempted Murder Case

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The country’s highest court has rejected a final appeal by a man sentenced to 30 years for trying to kill his former girlfriend. 

The decision ended Gary Thurston’s bid to be freed from prison.

In 2020, the Bahamian Court of Appeal affirmed Thurston’s conviction and sentence.

According to the evidence presented at his trial, Thurston, 36, went to Stephanie Kemp’s home in Ridgeland Park West on April 6, 2016, and shot her in the chest with his shotgun after telling her, “If I can’t have you no one could have you.”

According to the prosecution, Thurston attempted to kill Kemp after he murdered her schoolmate Sekeno Collie because he thought they were dating.

Collie was on Kemp’s front porch when Thurston arrived. He was killed as he was about to leave.

Thurston also shot Kemp’s mother, Conceta Lawrence. She lost her ring finger in the shooting, as she put her hands up in defense as Thurston shot at her. She was also shot in the thigh.

However, Thurston was acquitted of Collie’s murder and Lawrence’s attempted murder.

The Court of Appeal said that Thurston was fortunate that the jury did not convict him of the murder of Collie and the attempted murder of Lawrence because the evidence was “overwhelming.”