Manslaughter: Adam King Sentenced To 6 Years
Adam Leroy King was sentenced to six years in prison this afternoon [Sept 20], after pleading guilty to manslaughter in connection with the death of Verneil Richardson.
Before being sentenced, Mr King turned to face Mr Richardson’s family in Court and said: “I’m sorry for what happened that night.” He handed in a letter to Justice Charles-Etta Simmons, but said he did not want it read out in Court.
Prosector Cindy Clarke recommended a prison sentence between 8 -12 years, while Mr King’s lawyer, Craig Attridge, cited UK case law and asked for a sentence between 5 – 7 years.
Mr Richardson, 21, was fatally stabbed at approximately 1am on June 26, 2013 in the parking lot of the Bailey’s Bay Cricket Club.
The Court heard that the two men attended a party being held there separately. Mr King had sought to leave the club when he learned that Mr Richardson was present, however Mr Richardson followed after Mr King, catching up to him in the parking lot.
The two men ended up in a physical altercation, which was started by Mr Richardson attacking Mr King with a bottle. Mr King, 34, then stabbed Mr Richardson two times.
Mr King — who has previous criminal convictions — turned himself in later that day, and has been in custody since that time. He appeared in Court earlier this month, where he denied a charge of murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Mr Richardson’s family previously issued a statement, through their Pastor, saying, “We believe that out son’s life had a purpose and that he did not die in vain. It is our sincere hope and prayer that some young person somewhere seeks and finds God and His grace as a result of this tragedy.”
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are you serz!!!what the hell the Judges are on the defends side today!!!3 months for the drunk driver and 6 months for murder!!!SMDH
6 months for manslaughter, not murder. Watch some Law and Order to know the difference
6 years is ridiculous. Should easily have been life. And we wonder why it goes on. A life lost for what? In 6 years he will get out and run for Parliament and get voted in. What a crazy world we live in. 6 years. Nonsense. No justice here. We are sending a message: “Kill and get vacation time with 3 meals at Westgate and enjoy the view.”
@ Out of flight,
Did you not just read what was said? The guy persued him outside, and he defended himself. As you can see, he was convicted of manslaughter, not murder. Get your facts straight. Got some nerve, up on here Loud, Strong, & Wrong! lol
it’s 6 years not 6 months dumazz
tough call…6 years is light, but he did defend himself (apparently)….
Bay like your dumb a** 6 years.
He’ll be out in less than 3-yrs.
To the victims family I extend my sympathy for your loss. You now have the arduous task of getting on with your lives; which will not be easy. I hope you have found answers to all of your questions surrounding that fatal night. Your son made a cognizant decision to approach his enemy, who was apparently leaving, yielding a weapon & threw the first blow. These facts cannot be easy to hear & the road ahead, as you have already experienced, will be rough. May God be with you & heal your broken hearts.
To all the young men out there, who think they can settle disputes, whether it be over drugs or affairs of the heart, without intervention, let this be a lesson.
Well said Laverne
What should have been taken into consideration is the fact that Richardson bought 2 other men into his battle against King. Seriously, 3 against 1. Damn, I think most of us would have either ran or found something to fight with. He shouldn’t be serving time for a fight he didn’t initiate but was able to quickly defuse. Wrong Lawyer. Next time get Charles.Court listened to Richardson’s family. They should have listened to King’s family. Let them testify how they’d felt learning that 3 men were after their son, father and boyfriend. Let them tell the court how they’d felt if the bottle cut one of his arteries. Then how they’d felt if those 3 men killed him.
Why wasn’t this a self-defense case? The article says King was in the process of leaving to avoid Richardson. Richardson perused King into the parking lot and attacked him. Was it because King stabbed him twice instead of once? Or the stabbing occurred after the initial fight was broken up? It seems, with the information provided in the article, that King was doing everything correctly to avoid trouble. How does he end up getting 6 years for being followed and attacked? Can someone fill in the missing detail?
Ride
willful possession of a bladed article may have been considered.
It is a self defense case that is why he was allowed to plea guilty for manslaughter, and not murder. Google manslaughter vs murder and you will see the diffence based on the state of mind of the individual and the circumstance which the killing occurred. As for the 6 years, someone lost a life whether it be by self defense or not. Had he been convicted of murder, he could have received life. Look at previous self defense death cases on the island, 6 years seems to be average based on those other cases.
Self-defence is an absolute defence. In other words, if you act purely to defend yourself, you aren’t committing a crime. He didn’t contend that.
An altercation that turned violent. Mr. Richardson whether right or wrong started it.
At least Mr. King have the gumption to admit what happened.
Sad event and he will live with this for life.
Best to both families that have to live this for their lives.
Keep ya head up heads! Family out here waiting for you! My condolences to the young mans family!
Keep ur head up AK. We all love you fam n all. Ur n**** fat hold it down bra
6yrs for killing someone n 12 yrs for possessing a weapon.Makes no sense. WTH is wrong with these judges!!
Agreed. 6 years seems to light.
10-20 years for gunja! U get lest time for killing people! SMH!
*less
gun crime 40 years/kill somebody with a knife get 6year wat is wrong with this system did the judge have a few drinks on her lunch break adam king is a punk he should have got 20=================long years for that
you ain’t mike tyson..punk
he did not want a trail because all the truth would have come out go lay down
I thought that was obvious especially when his family minister and father were quick to speak to the public and church family shortly afterwards,
Bermuda and it’s people are all messed up in the head!
He will be out in 4 years – a very short sentence concidering a death was involved
He’s very lucky
I wonder if he would grow up this time’.
What are you implying by the last comment? Do you and others on this post know Adam King personally? Are your views based on your own personal judgement of who King is and not the facts of what happened or were revealed that night?
I am glad he admitted his part and did not waste the court’s time and tax payer’s money. He did not go looking for a fight. Even though he had a knife. Got out of hand. Unfortunately that is more common than a lot of us think. Like I said at least he owned up. Too many times the obviously guilty ones stick with a plea of not guilty.
Regarding the lady who apparently had 2 glasses of wine- wasn’t it stated that they were in the road? This I believe was not a straight forward DUI case. Please do not hurl insults at me fir my comments. If you disagree with my opinion then say so without the insults. I know this is why more people do not send in comments.
I remember a time when people got off for manslaughter – self defense, death by accident and similar. There probably would have been outrage if this was given to King, especially with “previous criminal convictions”. May the families move pass what they have learned through the case and accept the verdict as sentenced. May those who negatively pursue and violently provoke another know that what you start, may boomerang to finish you
He didn’t assert self defence. He’s lucky it’s not a murder conviction.
Were you at Bay club to know that it wasn’t self defence?
Adam may have been troubled, but he didn’t look for trouble. At least he will be out soon enough for his precious daughter
Mr. King, I don’t believe you should have received any jail time.You were obviously defending yourself. Richardson pursued you. Our laws need to change. So you carried a knife to protect yourself. Seriously, as Bermudians we do not have anything at our disposal to protect ourselves against danger? Mace, is prohibited. If you didn’t have that knife, would we have been burying you instead?
Ditto – life will be very different for him though went he is released. Will all those who are supporting his case now, be the same then?
Where and what happen to the other guys that was with Mr.Richardson. Just a thought maybe they should have been charged with something as well. Especially if it was proven that they helped start the madness that helped cause this yopung man to lose his life. They should also apologize to the victims family. Community service or something. Think ppl think
yashdo u know what u are talking about adam robber king is a punk and did not have to kill vern that night if u don’t know the true story;then keep your big mouth closed that’s it for now
Mike sorry for your lost but what’s done is done,if you was at bay club that night you should of been the bigger Person&defuse the whole situation, I know your angry but there is know need to come on here and Insulating King..as he said his sorry for what happenend that night, he had to Defend his self,could of been avoided#time&place for everything
stay up heads/ condolences to the victim…smh
King received 6 years for manslaughter – self defence. Kellan Lewis received 12 years for manslaughter – Aiding and Enabling. Meaning he not kill but assisted the killer (with no evidence of assistance.) One of the worst cases in history because it was botched by the Judge. Smdh!
My heart goes out to His mom,dad,sister and. Like his parents said everything in life happens for a reason. We may not understand why. I knew the verniell he is my God brother i shared many fun funny moments with him. Even tho he is not here with us physically he will always be in are hearts. No one in this world deserves to die. Im in shock that people can sell drugs and get more time than taking a life that can never be replaced. My God brother will never be married see his child grow up, see his sister graduate from high school. Those are the things that he was robbed of im not saying his actions was right . But i know he didnt deserve to die. Prayer changes things im praying that God heals are hearts and helps us to move on without
Bitterness.
And the people who think it was justice if it was your brother, cousin ,son, nephew or father would you feel the same way!
Love n Peace
To God be the glory.
Condolences too the family ! Keep the faith to both families ! not nice results for both . I hope my brothers see that their actions affect the people whom they love & love them !!!
smdh at some of the ridiculous comments !
Fools leaning on their own misunderstanding smdh