The Court in the First Instance on March 18, 2021, sentenced A.S.R. in absentia to 18 years imprisonment for manslaughter in the shooting death of C.F. and the attempted manslaughter of R.R. on March 18, 2014, in Dutch Quarter.
The shooter was tried in absentia, because he is imprisoned in the Commonwealth of Dominica for armed robbery.
This verdict means that A.S.R., a French citizen, will be arrested and imprisoned should he return to Sint Maarten after completing his sentence(s) in Dominica. A.S.R. was tried in absentia after several attempts were made by the Prosecutor’s Office OM SXM to have him extradited to Sint Maarten.
Dominica could not comply with the request, because there exists no extradition treaty between the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Sint Maarten) and the Commonwealth of Dominica. And, A.S.R. refused to be transported to Sint Maarten to stand trial in person. C.F. was shot multiple times while sitting in a car in Dutch Quarter.
The shots were allegedly aimed at her boyfriend R.R. After the shooting, the shooter and his (then) co-suspects went into hiding, fled the country and turned up on Dominica, where they immediately committed an armed robbery on a jeweler for which they are still detained on that island.
OM SXM sees the sentence in this violent crime as reinforcement that criminals who believe fleeing the country to escape justice are very misguided in their assumption.The sentence of 18 years, issued on March 18, 2021, for the crimes committed on March 18, 2014, is justice served. However, OM SXM understands that the sentence cannot erase the profound loss of the C.F.’s family, but hopes it will aid with closure.
