_{Photo: Tevin Andrewin, sentenced to life}

CCJ rejects Tevin Andrewin’s request for leave to appeal his conviction for the 2012 murder of Myrick Gladden in Southside Belize City.

by Roy Davis freelance writer)

BELIZE CITY, Tues. Oct. 22, 2024

A leave to appeal made by Tevin Andrewin, 32, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, was rejected by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), when it convened on Friday, October 18.

This means that Andrewin has exhausted his opportunity to appeal.

Andrewin was convicted of the murder of Myrick Gladden, 28, on May 2, 2019, by Justice Marilyn Williams in a judge-alone trial.

The murder occurred about 12:20 a.m. on June 24, 2012.

Gladden, his common-law wife, Shianna Allen, and her brother, were walking on Administration Drive, commonly known as Complex Street, when Gladden was gunned down.

Allen, who was the chief witness for the Crown, testified that she heard three loud bangs that sounded like gunshots coming from behind her. She said she felt a burning sensation in her left calf, which made her realize that she had been shot. She said she turned around and she saw a man with a gun in his hand and she stood, momentarily unable to move. Gladden, she said, was lying on the pavement next to where she was standing. She testified that she and her brother then ran, and while she was running, the gunman fired shots at her, but they missed.

She said that when she stopped and turned around, she saw the gunman standing over Gladden and firing shots at him. By this time, her brother had disappeared.

She said she ran until she reached the house of a friend and she took refuge by hiding under the verandah.

The police arrived at the scene and Gladden and Allen were taken to the hospital.

Gladden was shot three times in his back and once in his chest. A bullet also punctured his liver. Before he died, Gladden told police that it was Andrewin who shot him. His dying declaration was submitted as evidence at the trial.

After Crown Counsel Sheringe Rodriguez closed the case for the Crown, Andrewin’s attorney, Hector Guerra, made a “no case” submission, but it was rejected by Justice Williams.

Andrewin gave a statement from the dock in which he denied that he committed the offence.

Andrewin was sentenced to life imprisonment with eligibility for parole after he has served 25 years.

Andrewin appealed his conviction and sentence at the Belize Court of Appeal, but his appeal was dismissed and his conviction and sentence were affirmed.