The teenager who confessed to killing his father, Reverend Garnett Foster Snr, after allegedly researching for two months on how to kill his parents, is to spend a minimum of 10 years in jail for the murder.
Garnett Foster Jr, said to be aged between 18 and 19, was sentenced by High Court Judge, Justice Courtney Daye, when he appeared in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston on Friday.
Daye sentenced the teenager to 15 years in prison.
He was, however, ordered to serve 10 years in prison before being eligible for parole consideration.
According to Daye, the motive for the murder appeared to be the teenager’s resistance to his father’s authority.
During the reading of a social enquiry report, it was heard that Foster Jr researched how to kill his parents for months in advance of the deadly incident.
The report also revealed that the teen confessed to the killing, and he admitted that he should have listened to his father.
Foster Jr had been pulled by his father from Manning’s High School after allegedly joining a gang at the school and engaging in the smoking of marijuana and drinking. This further caused a strain in the relationship with his parents, who the teen both accused of interfering in his life.
Foster Jr’s attorney, Dionne Meyler Barrett, told the court prior to his sentencing that her client had an altercation with his father, during which he (the father) beat him. The teen then grabbed a knife and swung it.
Meyler Barrett said her client had indicated that he did not know where the weapon had lodged, and It was only afterwards that he realised that the weapon had landed in Foster Snr’s neck.
The attorney contended that her client loved his father and was remorseful about his actions.
Foster Snr, a 45-year-old resident of Bullet Tree district in Petersfield, Westmoreland, was the pastor of the Church of God of the Mountain Assembly in the parish.
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It was reported that on July 23 this year, the teenager alerted family members who resided elsewhere, that his father was hurt.
Foster Snr was later found with a stab wound to the neck.
He was transported to the hospital, where he later died.
The teenager was taken into custody shortly after, and was subsequently charged with murder.
He pleaded guilty in the Westmoreland Circuit Court on July 26.
