Robert Benn, the contractor who fatally shot a man and wounded his companion as they tried to turn their vehicle on a driveway on August 23, was today sentenced to 10 years behind bars by High Court Judge Navindra Singh.
Benn was prosecuted by State Prosecutors Tuanna Hardy and Tyra Bakker for the August 23, 2016 murder of Collin Perreira, 25, and discharging a loaded firearm at Galeann Chacon, Perreira’s girlfriend, with intent to commit murder.
For the murder charge, Benn opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He was sentenced to six and a half years’ imprisonment.
He then pleaded guilty to the charge of attempted murder committed on Perreira’s 24-year-old girlfriend. On this charge, he was sentenced to serve four years’ imprisonment. Justice Singh ordered that the sentences run concurrently with the time Benn spent in pre-trial custody. As a result, he will spend the next six years in prison.
Police, in a statement had said that on the day in question, Perreira was driving a heavily-tinted vehicle with his girlfriend, Chacon, in the passenger seat when they attempted to turn the vehicle around using Benn’s bridge.
Benn, who was in his yard at the time, drew his licensed handgun and discharged several rounds at the vehicle, hitting Perreira and Chacon about their bodies.
Police were summoned to the scene. The injured man and his friend were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where Perreira was pronounced dead on arrival.
Chacon was admitted in a critical condition. Benn had claimed that he opened fire on the vehicle because he had been receiving numerous death threats.
