DUNCANS, Trelawny — Thursday’s delay in sentencing Gregory Roberts, the convicted murderer of 15-year-old schoolgirl Shineka Gray, has dealt yet another blow to the teenager’s grieving relatives.

The matter was called up in the Trelawny Circuit Court but a combination of factors saw sentencing being pushed back to April 4.

For Shineka’s aunt, Nickeda Gray, the delay has added to the family’s mental anguish.

“It is not easy, it is like you are playing with my emotions while he gets leniency to do whatever he wants to do. And I am concerned about my safety and my family as well. The more time you allow them to do what they are doing, the more mess they make around MoBay,” stated Gray.

When asked what security concerns she was referring to, she revealed that Roberts has ties to the community.

“On the outside, we have to be watching our backs as well. We don’t know if he is planning from the inside. We don’t know if when we show up here he has people out there to see who comes. He is a persistent kind of person. The court doesn’t think about that part of it when they give him more time — an entire month again,” lamented Gray.

The case began in November 2023 in the St James Circuit Court and a verdict was delivered on January 24 in that court. However, Thursday’s sentencing was sent to Trelawny to allow High Court Justice Bertram Morrison, who has been presiding over the case since inception and is now presiding over the Trelawny Circuit Court, to hand down the sentence.

When the matter was called up on Thursday, prosecutor Andrea Martin-Swaby reminded Justice Morrison that he had ordered the prosecution and the defence to make written submissions in time for sentencing. Martin-Swaby said the prosecution did so electronically on March 5 and a physical copy was provided at a later date.

Martin-Swaby said a social enquiry report was also prepared by the probation department. An antecedent report was also prepared.

However, according to Justice Morrison, the matter was adjourned as a result of a combination of factors, including Roberts’ attorney Chumu Paris being asked, last minute, to make a submission to the court on behalf of the lead defence attorney Leroy Equiano. However, Paris was unable to make a written submission within the limited time he had and proposed an oral presentation. But Justice Morrison pointed out that, based on the nature of the case and the public’s interest in it, he would prefer to receive the submission in writing ahead of the sentencing date.

“Having said so, the matter will now be reverted to the St James Circuit Court on the 4th of April for sentencing,” stated Justice Morrison.

He then apologised to all parties involved, including Shineka’s family, for the inconvenience caused.

The teen’s aunt said the delay, like others before it, has been hard on them.

“It does add to the trauma because every time you get to the point where you think it is going to wrap up or finish and you have to brace yourself each time to come and face this guy in the court and then for them to tell you… you break down. Anxiety is not something good, you know. You bring me up today, then you bring me down and then when I go home, you have to be prepping yourself to get up each morning. So, when you do things like that, it sends you back into a slumber,” Gray said.

Shineka, who was a grade 10 student at the time of her death in 2017, was found dead three days after she had been reported missing. She was last seen alive in Montego Bay while on her way home from the funeral of a schoolmate.

Roberts and his co-accused, Mario Morrison, were later taken into custody in connection with the killing.

Morrison pleaded guilty in September 2022 after entering a plea deal with the State and was sentenced to life in prison a month later.