‘Special kind of evil’: Painter gets life for killing Paulwell’s baby daughter and her mother

A Kingston painter will spend decades behind bars for his role in the chilling abduction and killing of politician Phillip Paulwell’s baby daughter and her mother.

David Smith, who pleaded guilty to the gruesome killings, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday and must serve a minimum of 45 years before he can become eligible for parole.

The sentence was handed down by Chief Justice Bryan Sykes in the Home Circuit Court under a plea-deal arrangement with the Crown.

Smith, a father of two daughters, appeared visibly sad as he faced the consequences of his involvement in the deaths of 10-month-old Sarayah and her mother, 27-year-old Toshyna Patterson.

Smith was sentenced to 25 years for Sarayah’s murder and life imprisonment for Patterson’s death.

He also received two years for kidnapping the infant and three years for kidnapping her mother.

But while the Crown recommended the sentences under the plea agreement, Sykes made it clear that he would not have been nearly as lenient.

The Chief Justice was particularly scathing when speaking about the murder of the baby.

“It really takes a special kind of evil to kill a baby and deliberately so,”

Sykes said.

He questioned why someone who deliberately takes a life should ever have the opportunity to walk free.

“Why should you, the person who deliberately takes somebody’s life, have the opportunity to be free? That should never happen.”

The courtroom was filled with emotion during the sentencing, as Patterson’s mother and sister were seen crying.

Baby and mother abducted

Prosecutors allege that Sarayah and Patterson were abducted from their St Andrew home on September 9, 2023.

Investigators say the mother and baby were taken to east Kingston, where they were later shot and their bodies burned.

Smith had pleaded guilty to two counts each of capital murder, conspiracy to murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap.

He was jointly charged with Leoda Bradshaw, a former United States Navy petty officer who prosecutors allege was involved in the plot.

Bradshaw was reportedly in a relationship with Paulwell at the time of the killings and is also the mother of one of his children.

She faces two counts each of capital murder, conspiracy to murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap.

Bradshaw is jointly charged with Roland Balfour and Bjorn Black.

Balfour, Bradshaw’s cousin, faces two counts each of accessory before the fact to murder and kidnapping.

Black faces two counts each of murder, kidnapping, conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to kidnap, along with firearms-related offences.

Two other men implicated in the case, Richard Brown and Roshane Miller, have already pleaded guilty to related offences and were sentenced.

Smith was represented by attorneys Franklin Grenyion and Shamar Hanson, while Director of Public Prosecutions Claudette Thompson and Crown Counsel Alice-Ann Gabbidon appeared for the Crown.

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