Ex-policeman sentenced to 20 years for killing his girlfriend

Two years after murdering his girlfriend, Mickeisha Gumbs, former policeman, Vandyke King, 36, was on Tuesday, October 25 sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The sentence was handed down by Justice Brian Cottle at High Court No.1.

According to the facts, on March 7, 2020 Gumbs, a 26 year old resident of Park Hill was stabbed to death on her way home, while carrying her one year old toddler in her arms.

Her other children were also present when she received multiple stab wounds to her neck.

King who at the time of the incident had been employed as a security guard, has given himself up to the police and pled guilty on June 27 this year.

He had already spent two years, seven months and 16 days in prison awaiting the conclusion of his trial.

According to the facts presented by Justice Cottle, Gumbs and the defendant were in a common law relationship which produced a child, the one year old who was with Gumbs on the day she was killed.

Gumbs also had two other children from a previous relationship, and King was known to be usually violent towards her, even in public.

On the day of her death, the deceased had left home with her three children and others to pick up her youngest child who was at a different home at the time.

King, also a resident of Park Hill, was in the area around the same time. He asked someone to lend him a cutlass, but he was unable to get hold of the cutlass.

He approached Gumbs and began quarrelling with her wanting to find out who had given her a ride earlier that same day.

Gumbs, along with her nine year old daughter told King that they rode in a van and then someone had given them a ride from Colonaire to Park Hill.

King left, and Gumbs continued along her journey. Afterwards, he returned with two knives, approached the woman, and as she tried to escape from him she tripped over in a garden and he began to stab her in front of the children.

King was represented by lawyer, Duane Daniel.

He presented his mitigation plea to the court one day before the sentencing.

The judge then adjourned the sentencing so he could take into consideration what Daniel had presented in mitigation.

Daniel who told the court that he recognized that his client’s actions were in the wrong, also highlighted that he believes his client would use his wrong as an example to not repeat such actions and wanted some level of mercy to be shown to him.

He presented the killing as being a crime of passion.

In handing down sentence, Justice Cottle arrived at a notional sentence of 30 years in prison before applying a one-third discount for King’s guilty plea, which reduced the sentence to 20 years.

The two years, seven months and 16 days which the defendant had already spent on remand, was also deducted from his sentence.

Therefore, as from the day of his sentencing, King will spend 17 years,four months and 17 days in prison.