The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN who strangled her girlfriend and then lit her bedroom afire in a jealous rage was sentenced yesterday to 18 years in prison as part of a plea deal after she admitted responsibility for her role in a domestic dispute that turned fatal.

Katriona Gilbert, 29, appeared before Justice Bernard Turner where she opted to forgo trial concerning murder and arson charges stemming from the February 23, 2015 discovery of the body of Ariel Lowe of Miller’s Heights.

Gilbert’s lawyer, Tonique Lewis, asked for the charges to be read to her client again and when they were, Gilbert answered “not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter.”

The answer drew audible expressions of shock from the back of the Ansbacher courtroom.

Gilbert had made a plea agreement with the Crown in which the initial murder charge was reduced to manslaughter based on the circumstances that led up to the incident. She also pleaded guilty to arson concerning the destruction of Lowe’s mother’s house.

Gilbert was later sentenced to 18 years for manslaughter and 10 years for arson as stipulated by the plea agreement, however the sentences will run concurrently.

Before sentencing, Lowe’s mother, Adriana Hanna, told Justice Turner that the agreement was “not justice.”

“Whatever the term set out in the agreement, what is clear Ms Gilbert is that you have caused inconsiderable pain,” the judge said to Gilbert before the sentences were imposed.

Gilbert and Lowe, according to the summation of the facts read by prosecutor Darrell Taylor, were in an intimate relationship for three years and they lived together for most of that period prior to Lowe’s death.

On Sunday, February 22, 2015, sometime around 2am, the couple had a physical argument because Gilbert had gone into Lowe’s cellular phone and discovered ongoing conversations between Lowe and other women that contained photos and videos of an intimate nature.

She questioned Lowe about them but the deceased denied any relationship with the women. Her response precipitated another physical argument.

Later that morning between 9am and 10am, another physical argument occurred between the couple at Gilbert’s residence where Gilbert’s mother had to pull her daughter off Lowe.

Lowe left the home and went to her mother’s house in Miller’s Heights. Gilbert went to see Lowe later that day.

The following day, February 23, 2015, sometime between 6.30am and 9am, Gilbert went to visit Lowe who was still at her mother’s residence.

During that visit, there was another physical fight relating to the messages found in Lowe’s phone.

In that fight, Gilbert picked up a cord and wrapped it around Lowe’s neck several times and listened to her choke. Gilbert then got a cigarette lighter and aerosol spray and lit Lowe’s clothes and a mattress on fire before fleeing the house.

Gilbert stopped to a service station to purchase a detergent then continued on her way home with the spray can and lighter in tow. She then discarded the items along Golden Isles Road.

However, she received a call from Lowe’s mother asking Gilbert to check on her house because she had heard from a neighbour that it was on fire and she’d left Lowe asleep.

Gilbert went back to the house, stood outside and observed the burning home. An autopsy revealed that Lowe died of asphyxiation.

Apology

Justice Turner asked Gilbert if she accepted the facts read by the prosecutor.

“Yes, sir,” said a teary-eyed Gilbert.

Justice Turner said the court would accept her unequivocal plea of guilt to manslaughter and arson and convicted her accordingly.

“Do you have anything to say Ms Gilbert as to why a sentence of this court should not be passed on you?” the judge asked.

“I’d just like to apologise to her family and I just hope they can find it in their heart to forgive me someday,” Gilbert said as tears fell down her face.

“Is there anything else you would like to say?” the judge asked further.

“No, sir,” Gilbert replied.

Her lawyer called the situation an unfortunate “lover’s quarrel gone wrong.”

“As the court may have noticed from Ms Gilbert, although she may have not expressed it as eloquently as persons may like her to, she is remorseful for what has transpired,” Ms Lewis stressed.

“Unfortunately, a life was lost stemming from what began as a simple argument. It then became physical and then it resulted in the demise of Ms Lowe. M’lord, we would say that Ms Gilbert, she has done the right thing in not wanting to rehash the events of that dreadful day. She has used this time to just change her plea.

“Although it is that Ms Lowe cannot be brought back, Ms Gilbert is very remorseful as this is someone she did love and I only say did because she’s no longer with us,” Gilbert’s lawyer added.

Ms Lewis said that her client knows she has to be punished for her actions and intends to build on her 13-year tenure in Urban Renewal and certification as a patient care technician while incarcerated at the Department of Correctional Services.

The prosecutor made an application for Lowe’s mother, Adrianna Hanna, to be heard concerning the impact of Lowe’s death on the family. The request was granted.

Lowe’s mother told Justice Turner that months before the ill-fated day, she lost an initial house to a fire and then on February 23, 2015 “I lost my daughter because of Katriona Gilbert’s jealousy.”

The sobbing parent said Gilbert’s actions severed the friendship between herself and Gilbert’s own mother.

Ms Hanna described her daughter as scholastic and ambitious.

Lowe, she said, had been accepted into the Royal Bahamas Defence Force but opted to accept another offer by the Royal Bahamas Police Force and was awaiting training before her death.

“She called me to say she knew I didn’t condone her lifestyle but she wanted my help,” Ms Hanna said.

She said Gilbert had selfishly beaten her daughter, videotaped it, bragged of doing so and then sent the same footage after committing the deed.

“She’s showed me no remorse or never tried to apologised for all of the times I’ve come here. For her to accept a plea of manslaughter, if she was sorry for killing her, why did she have to burn my house down too? I do not agree with this plea agreement. This is not justice,” Lowe’s mother said.

The judge was told that the incident has changed Lowe’s surviving daughter, who is beginning to exhibit similar violent behaviour to that of Gilbert.

“Your honour, this is not right,” Ms Hanna concluded, still in tears.

Justice Turner then addressed Gilbert.

“Ms Hanna is of the view that you’ve murdered her daughter but the Crown and the court has accepted the guilty plea of manslaughter,” the judge said.

“You, in the few words expressed to the court, have asked for the family’s forgiveness. The court recognises those few words have an understanding that the family is not yet at that point.

“Whatever the term set out in the agreement, what is clear, Ms Gilbert, is that you have caused inconsiderable pain, in respect of which you’ve expressed yourself. “In sentencing, the court has to consider the offence, the offender and its impact upon society.

“The family of the deceased are a part of society. I’ve also to consider the potential for rehabilitation and any other mitigating and aggravating circumstances about this matter. For whatever reason it was, it is apparent from the summary, that this relationship was an abusive one and her mother has expressed her views for that,” the judge further said.

Justice Turner said the law makes provision for a victim impact statement to be given in the consideration of sentencing and has considered what was said by Lowe’s mother.

However, the judge said he also had a signed plea agreement before him, which makes a recommendation of an 18-year-sentence for manslaughter and 10 years for arson.

The judge said that Gilbert’s avoidance of a trial warranted a discount and sentenced her to the terms set out in the agreement with effect from the date of conviction, November 3, 2016.

Justice Turner said the sentences would run concurrently.

The 18-year-sentence was further reduced to 16 years and four months after factoring in the time Gilbert spent on remand awaiting trial.

Gilbert and the Crown have the legal right to appeal the sentence, notwithstanding that both parties endorsed the plea agreement.

Deon Ferguson appeared with Ms Taylor for the Crown in this matter.