DANTE Brooks, son of dancehall deejay Mavado, was found guilty of the 2018 murder of Lorenza Thomas in the Home Circuit Court, downtown Kingston, yesterday.

The 18-year-old was also convicted of illegal possession of firearm and arson. Several efforts to contact his legal team headed by Peter Champagnie, QC, were unsuccessful.

Co-accused Andre Hinds was also found guilty of the capital offence. Sentencing is scheduled for March 12.

According to the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Corporate Communications Unit, at 3:30 am on June 5, 2018, a group of armed men forced their way into the 23-year-old victim’s home in the Cassava Piece community in St Andrew. He was shot, chopped, and his body set on fire.

It is alleged the murder occurred days after Mavado was reportedly shot at by a group of men in that community.

Only two weeks ago, Mavado – whose given name is David Brooks – penned a heartfelt tribute to his son titled Not Perfect.

The entertainer was confident his son would have been freed of all charges.

“He [Mavado] is distraught and a little perturbed. He is maintaining that the allegation against his son is not true, and he is willing to go at lengths to defend his son,” Mavado’s attorney, Tamika Harris, told the Jamaica Observer shortly after the 16-year-old’s arrest in 2018.

Mavado has also had his run-ins with the law. In 2011, the St Ann police charged him with malicious destruction of property.

The charge stemmed from a fracas outside a nightclub in Runaway Bay in the parish on May 22 of that year, where he was arrested and subsequently offered $50,000 station bail.

The entertainer was freed on June 9, 2011, after the complainant in the case told the court that she no longer had an interest in the matter.

In 2018, the Constant Spring Police sought the deejay for a question-and-answer session due to the upsurge in gang violence in that division. He was, however, unavailable as he had travelled back to the United States where he resides.

Hailing from the Cassava Piece community, Mavado got his big break in 2004 with the song Real McKoy. He is also known for tracks like Weh Dem a Do, Settle Down, and Money Changer.