“It’s so unfair”- Alton Whyte’s rallying cries for true justice

It took two years and almost five months for Andre Bromfield to be sentenced for the killing of Shantell Whyte and, even after the long wait, his sentence feels inadequate for Whyte’s family. Bromfield, who was having an affair with Whyte, shot and killed her on New Year’s Eve in 2019 after another male kissed her on the cheek. Bromfield was sentenced to 18 years and five months in prison, seven years less than his original 25-year sentence expected. Bromfield was initially charged with murder but had his charge reduced to manslaughter on the grounds of provocation.

In that almost seven-year reduction, testimonies of his good character outside of and preceding his heinous crime took off two and a half years. Despite efforts by Bromfield’s lawyer to have his client’s sentence lessened further, Judge Shelly-Williams, ultimately, was not swayed by the arguments. While Alton Whyte, the father of Shantell, is thankful that the sentence was not even more reduced, he feels that it is a far way off from what Bromfield should have received –  a life sentence. “A murder him fi get charge for, not manslaughter. Him should a get life. A life imprisonment the man fi get. That is murder,” Whyte said.

What should have felt like closure for Whyte has felt more like a lack of justice. “No justice has been served. There is no justice in this court of law because everybody could see what take place there. The man just get up out of him seat and shoot her. And then inna this yah court yah dem a tell mi bout manslaughter when you can see seh that a murder.”

Whyte who still seemed to be in disbelief about the sentence, speculated that the outcome of the case would’ve been different if Shantell was from a higher socioeconomic background. He also compared the amount of evidence in this case to other cases with less evidence where the perpetrators were more harshly punished.

Although he is dissatisfied with this outcome, he says he has left everything in God’s hands. “I just leave it as it is. Shanny [Shantell] dead and gone and she nah come back but God has His way to handle things,” he said.