Perdie Newman was angry yesterday.

The 20-year life sentence handed down to Steven Causewell — the man who was convicted of killing her daughter, Nadia Mitchell — was not enough to soothe her rage.

“I think the sentence should have been three times that — 60 years before parole; rot in jail,” Newman fumed after the presiding judge, Justice Carol Lawrence-Beswick, ruled in the Home Circuit Court shortly after 2:00 pm.

“He has taken my child and I will never be able to see her; she will never be back; my granddaughter will never be able to see her mummy; he has his children. Yes, I am there for my granddaughter, but no matter what, grandmother can’t replace your mother,” said Newman.

Causewell, who was on trial for the murder of his 28-year-old ex-lover at her Oaklands apartment home, was found guilty by six of the seven jurors on September 8.

The businessman was taken into custody in July 2008 and charged with murder after Mitchell’s body was found in the yard of the gated apartment complex in St Andrew.

At that time, police had theorised that she had been thrown from the third floor to her death. But during the trial, that theory was thrown out after a government pathologist testified that Mitchell’s injuries were inconsistent with being thrown from a height, and that her death was as a result of a severe blow to her head.

The cosmetologist’s body had 27 injuries, 19 of which prosecutors said were inflicted before she died.

Yesterday, Mitchell’s mother, sister and daughter said that while the sentencing will help them to start the healing process, it will not bring them closure, as it will not bring back their loved one.

“I am angry, because the stupid boy didn’t have to do it, all he had to do was walk away with the woman that he had, but he was so obsessed, and then he was so cocky in the beginning,” Newman said.

“He was so sure that he was going to get away with it, but guess what, God always have the last say, and my prayers have not gone in vain,” she said.

“You reap what you sow, and he is reaping what he sowed,” she added.

Mitchell’s sister, Shana Forbes, and daughter Imani Prendergast shared Newman’s sentiments, even as they said they were happy with the sentence.

“Well… it could be more, but I am happy it is life, so there is no running away from that. He got what he deserved and he is paying for what he has done,” 18-year-old Prendergast said.

Added Forbes: “I am happy with the verdict in the sense that justice has been served. We have spent eight years waiting for today. It wasn’t eight easy years neither, from an emotional standpoint for my family, or from the standpoint of the justice system, as we had to really fight with missing evidence and the case being putting off.

“But at the end of the day, God is good, and for other less fortunate families who are facing the situation, I say, ‘fight on, stand up, dress up, and show up for every court day. Mek dem know yuh poor but yuh know your rights’,” she added.

Justice Lawrence-Beswick, in handing down the sentence, said she took into consideration the circumstances of the case. The judge said she had to “respect the jury’s verdict” and had to also bear in mind that “the victim was a lady with a loving family [and that] they have been deprived of her forever”.

She also ruled that Causewell should undergo psychological evaluation.