Disabled Man Sentenced To 40 Years In Prison For 2021 Murder

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A disabled man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for a 2021 murder.

While on bail, 24-year-old Jawuan Armbrister ended up in a wheelchair in 2022 after he survived a shooting that left him paralyzed.

Prosecutors allege that Armbrister and Damutri Thurston were responsible for the September 17, 2021 shooting that killed Davante Brown and left Valverde Butler paralyzed.

Armbrister will serve 35 years for Butler’s attempted murder at the same time.

The shooting reportedly stemmed from a confrontation at a bar earlier that night.

Brown was riding a motorbike with Butler as his passenger on Carmichael Road when they were allegedly shot by Armbrister.

In passing sentence, Justice Guillimina Archer-Minns acknowledged Armbrister’s health challenges and the limitations at the prison, but she said the sentence was to deter others from similar behavior.

Thurston, Armbrister’s stepbrother, was killed by a friend in 2022 while they were shooting at someone else.