(CNS): Mikkyle Brandon Leslie, 36, was accused Wednesday of being involved in a gang-related shootout at a Central George Town bar that left two men dead, 16 years old. Injured was sentenced to imprisonment. When an unknown killer started shooting outside his bar at The Grove on Martin Drive on July 1, 2021, Leslie returned fireas he was illegally armed with an unlicensed semi-automatic 9mm pistol at the time.
Leslie, also known as Brandon Leslie-Ebanks, was initially a suspect in a murder case. Mark Andre Ebanks died at the scene (36), eldon charles walton (55), died in hospital 2 weeks later. However, he was only eventually charged with illegal possession of a firearm.
Leslie was arrested at the airport shortly after the shootout on suspicion of murder, but it was soon revealed that he was not the killer. All the evidence pointed to the fact that Leslie was armed with the illegal weapons he used.
Leslie, Ebanks, Walton, and two others are shot by the killer while drinking and chatting outside a bar. However, when the shooting started, Leslie fought back and fled the scene unharmed. No one has been charged in the murders of either Ebanks or Walton.
Their deaths followed just a week later, on July 9, in another gang-related shooting in Georgetown that police believed was linked. Wayne Elon McLean Five people were killed and five injured in a bar in Vic, an industrial area, when gunmen burst into the bar and opened fire. Murder and attempted murder charges against Ezekiel Carter, 36, for McLean’s murder Dropped By the crown of November.
So far, Leslie is the only person convicted in connection with a spate of gang-related shootings and killings last summer.
Despite Leslie claim of self-defense As a mitigation measure, Justice Philip St. John Stevens, who presided over the judge-only trial, said his immersion in gun culture exacerbated the circumstances of his case. He noted that he went out drinking with friends in a public place armed with semi-automatically loaded weapons. After he fired his gun several times, he began bragging about his involvement in the shootout in social media messages.
During the trial, Leslie, who is a Caymanian, denied the charges and claimed in messages that he was just bragging to friends trying to impress him in the United States where he lived before the shooting. He claimed to have left the scene before the shots were fired. However, while some messages seemed to exaggerate his role in the shootout, evidence indicated Leslie was present when an unknown killer opened fire. , was also caught by CCTV running from the scene minutes after the first shot was fired.
Given the criminals and the criminal situation, and the concern in Cayman society that gun violence is escalating because of young people who own illegal guns, the judge decided to impose a mandatory minimum limit on possession of unlicensed weapons. He said the sentence should be increased. case. He also pointed out that Leslie was convicted in Florida in 2013. imported guns Including the weapons used in the crimes here.
When he sentenced him to 16 years, the judge ruled that the time Leslie had spent under an electronic curfew before being remanded and the total time he had already been remanded to 413 days. He said he would consider it.
Leslie was also convicted in 2010 of the 2009 murder of Omar Samuels in Macfield Lane, George Town. acquitted in 2011 By the Court of Appeal. Therefore, it was not considered in this trial.
