Mavado issued a lengthy statement condemning the Jamaican justice system for imprisoning his son for a crime he said was “concocted.”
Urban Islandz reported on Friday (March 7) that Mavado’s son, Dantay Brooks, and his co-accused, Andre Hinds, were freed by the Jamaica Court of Appeal four years after they were convicted and sentenced to life for the murder of Lorenzo Thomas. Police say Thomas was killed in a home invasion on June 5, 2018, in Cassava Piece, and the two men were among five men who committed the crime.
However, following an appeal, the Appeal Court ruled that the trial judge showed a great lapse in judgement in his handling of identification evidence. The prosecution’s sole eyewitness was Thomas’ father, who told the court that he knew the killers from the community. Appeal lawyers pointed out in their court filing that the elder Thomas had credibility issues and the appeal judges agreed.
In his statement, Mavado, whose real name is David Brooks, says he is elated about his son’s freedom but vows to pursue legal action for what he says is a “substantial miscarriage of justice.”
“I am naturally elated, relieved and full of joy that my son Dantay has been freed form the State-imposed hell he has endured for seven years of his young life,” the singer wrote. “But at the same time there is a fire raging within me at the injustice – or as the appeal judges put it – SUBSTANTIAL MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE – that has taken place.”
“A trial without jury decided on by a lone judge who chose not to take into account the amount of times the SINGLE witness changed his statements, admitted to lying to police and fabricated his account of events,” Mavado added. “The prosecution could not properly contest the appeal and did not request a retrial, admitting along the way that they did not follow basic legal protocol. They sensationalized the story with outrageous claims that the post mortem also proved to be lies. The question is how did this even come to trial?”
Mavado indicated in his statement that this is not the end of his legal fight. The dancehall singjay fled Jamaica in 2018 after police named him a person of interest. His son was arrested at the singer’s home around the same time and charged with the murder of Thomas.
“We will be pursuing full legal action against ALL parties involved in this cruel act of injustice and will not stop fighting until real justice is served upon those who perpetrated this awful, unlawful and unwarranted action against my son and his co-accused Andre Hinds,” the singer said.
Mavado, who has maintained his son’s innocence from the start, also thanked defense attorneys Hugh Wildman and Oswest Senior Smith for defending his son and his co-accused.
Mavado made a huge impact on the dancehall scene following his meteoric rise in the early 2000s under the Bounty Killer-led Alliance crew. The “Settle Down” singer is known for having one of the most unique singing voices in the genre. Not only that, but he also brought something fresh to dancehall that won over a lot of fans locally and internationally. Mavado was also one of only a handful of artists in dancehall known for singing as opposed to deejaying over the beat.
With hits like “Weh Dem A Do” and “So Special,” the Cassava Piece singjay built a vast catalog over the past two decades. Mavado’s collaborations with international artists like Drake and Nicki Minaj have further elevated his brand of dancehall globally.
