_{Photo: Kenrick Longsworth, sentenced}

BELIZE CITY, Fri. Aug. 30, 2024

A stepfather who back in January 2020 abused three siblings, killing one of them, must serve 15 years for manslaughter and 3 years for wounding of 1 of the 2 surviving brothers he had beaten badly.

Today, Justice Derick Sylvester ordered that Kenrick Longsworth’s sentences are to run concurrently, and his 4 years on remand deducted, leaving him with 15 more years to serve for manslaughter.

The children’s mother, who was seen crying, left immediately after hearing the sentence handed down for the killing of her 3-year-old son.

Longsworth was initially tried for murder and two counts of attempted murder, but was found guilty of manslaughter and guilty of wounding, and not guilty of attempted murder for one of the 2 surviving boys.

This morning, Justice Sylvester’s starting point for sentencing was 24 years.

He then deducted 5 years for mitigating and aggravating factors, leaving Longsworth with 19 years, and deducted his remand period of 4 years, bringing his total years left behind bars to 15 years.

One mitigating factor was that he showed remorse, and this was expressed during his Social Inquiry Report prepared for the court by the Social Worker. Another was that the judge didn’t view Longsworth as a threat to society. The aggravating factor the judge listed was that Longsworth had two previous convictions for crimes of violence.

Longsworth, the step-father of three little boys ages 4, 3 and 2, was tried and convicted on Wednesday, June 5, when Justice Derick Sylvester found him guilty of manslaughter and wounding, but not guilty of murder in the beating of his three-year-old stepson, and not guilty for the other child.

Longsworth was tried for the murder of his 3-year-old stepson, Mark Teul, and attempted murder of Mark’s other two siblings, Zemark and Markeem Teul. Justice Sylvester found him guilty of manslaughter for the 3-year-old, and guilty of wounding Zemark. The judge ruled that Longsworth caused the injuries but did not intend to kill Mark Teul, but he lied in his testimony to the court. Because no evidence could prove his intent to murder the child, the judge found Longsworth guilty of manslaughter and not guilty of murder.

Justice Sylvester found Longsworth guilty of wounding Zemark Teul, but not guilty of wounding Markeem Teul. Justice Sylvester said that he was not convinced that the evidence linked Longsworth to committing the crime against Markeem on January 10, 2022, as the doctors’ evidence spoke of the injuries on Markeem as old injuries, leaving him to acquit Longsworth of that child’s injuries.

In his defense, Longsworth, while he admitted to beating his 3-year-old stepson, denied harming him to cause his death, and blamed the child’s death and injuries to his brothers on their mother.