MOM: DEANE DEVALUED
Mercia Fraser disappointed with sentences of cops collared for son’s 2014 death
Published:Wednesday | July 2, 2025 | 12:15 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Mercia Fraser, the mother of Mario Deane, left the Westmoreland Circuit Court feeling sorely disappointed on Tuesday after learning that only one of the three police personnel who were found guilty in relation to her son’s death in 2014 would be facing any jail time.
Corporal Elaine Stewart, the most senior of the three officers, was sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter, one year for misconduct in a public office, and one year for attempting to pervert the course of justice, with all the sentences to run simultaneously. Her co-accused, Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant, were each sentenced to three years for manslaughter, suspended for three years, and one year for misconduct in a public office, suspended for one year.
“I am just disappointed because for the kind of beating Mario got, … I was expecting more. The fact that they are appealing Ms Stewart’s matter and that she is not going to get locked up until the appeal because her bail is still on, I am kind of disappointed,” Fraser said following the sentencing hearing.
She was referencing the successful effort by Stewart’s lawyer, Martyn Thomas, immediately after presiding High Court Justice Courtney Daye concluded the sentencing hearing, to secure bail for his client pending the appeal of her sentence.
“I do not know where it is going after the appeal, but I am leaving it up to the court. But I am still disappointed,” Fraser continued. “I was expecting more, but it shows me that in spite of all these years, and that they don’t have anything bad on Mario apart from him smoking. It seems like his life meant nothing. That is how I look on it right now.”
During the sentencing hearing, Justice Daye pointed to the inciting incident, where Deane was beaten on August 3, 2014, while in custody at the Barnett Street Police Station lock-up in Montego Bay, St James, for possession of a ganja spliff. Deane was taken to the Cornwall Regional Hospital in a vegetative state, and he died there three days later on August 6.
“I read the statement of the mother (Fraser), and she is correct that this could not be because of a spliff because that is disproportionate. It shows a disregard for the fundamental rights of a person in custody, and this is where it started,” said Daye.
Stewart, Clevon, and Grant were found guilty in May for complicity in Deane’s death as they were the officers on duty at the Barnett Street lock-up when Deane was beaten. Additionally, Stewart was found guilty of ordering that the cell where the beating took place should be cleaned before the arrival of investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations.
However, Daye’s subsequent ruling for each of the three parties’ sentences on Tuesday took into account their previous good character, their good social-enquiry reports, and their previous good work histories, along with the character witnesses who testified on their behalf during the sentencing hearing.
In the meantime, Fraser said that all she could do at this point was to continue living her life while being grateful that she did not prematurely quit her fight for justice on her son’s behalf.
“I am going to carry on with life … . What else can I do? I feel I ran the race, and I am glad I did not quit, and at this point, it does not matter, I just have to go on and live my life,” said Fraser. “I do not feel like I failed my son. If I had walked away, I know I would have failed him, but I do not feel like I failed him, so, therefore, I will just try and live.”