A man who, in an unprovoked attack, repeatedly slashed a woman with a knife and beat her in the head in Discovery Bay, was sent to prison for four years when he pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, in the St. Ann Circuit Court, on Wednesday, November 12.
He is 19-year-old Kevin Stern, of Discovery Bay.
The complainant told the court how after Stern attacked her and pulled her into bushes, she pretended to be dead after he beat her in the head and cut her.
Stern was involved in an altercation on July 17, 2012 in which he repeatedly stabbed a woman in her lower back and beat her in the head with a stone, in a community called Adney Grass in Discovery Bay, St. Ann.
The complainant said that she was heading somewhere when she stopped and asked the accused if he had seen a man named ‘Coolie’.
Stern told her he had not seen the man but stood in her way and blocked her. She went across to the other side of the road to get away from Stern and he followed her.
She then walked to the opposite side of the road and the accused, who still followed her, used a knife to stab her in her lower back, held her in her neck and led her into bushes.
They fought and it was then that she said she was repeatedly stabbed and hit in the head with a stone.
The complainant revealed that Stern kept repeating “A yah suh u a guh dead,” while he beat her in the head with the stone.
She said she pretended as if she was dead when she heard him walking away and she could no longer smell him.
The medical report revealed that the complainant had a 10 cm laceration to the front of her head, a 5 cm laceration to the superior head and 1 cm laceration to the posterior at the lower back.
A witness in the case said that she saw Stern covered in blood and he told her that he had just killed a dog and thrown it away. The complainant was heard crying for help and she was found in the bushes and taken to the hospital.
However, though Stern pleaded guilty to the charge, he said the complainant provoked him as she had said something derogatory to him about his mother.
The probation officer who took the stand to present evidence revealed to the court that Stern has deep-rooted psychological problems and was emotionally unstable.
Attorney Nadine Lawson who represented Stern said he has no previous convictions or arrests and is not affiliated with any gang.
