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A father involved in an infamous 2009 child abandonment case in Toronto now faces a 15-year minimum sentence in Jamaica after being convicted of murdering his wife seven years ago, Crown prosecutors say .
Former Toronto resident Alphanso Warren was arrested by Jamaican police in 2015. Officials say he stabbed his wife Stephanie Warren to death at a Kingston residence during an argument on New Year’s Eve.
A key witness testified that he saw the pair fight in an apartment complex, senior Crown prosecutor handling the case Andrea Martin-Swaby said.
“[The witness] heard the deceased say, ‘Don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me,'” Martin-Swaby said.
“[She] repeated this several times until the voice faded.”
A judge found Warren guilty May 12 in Home Circuit Court in Kingston.
In Jamaica, a murder conviction carries a minimum sentence of 15 years, with a maximum sentence of life in prison. Warren will be sentenced on June 23.
The trial was originally scheduled to begin in 2019, but was postponed to a later date and then faced further delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Warren initially pleaded not guilty on April 20.
A turbulent past
Warren and his wife moved to Jamaica shortly after being found guilty of abandoning their eight-month-old baby, Angelica Leslie, in the stairwell of a parking lot in the Finch Avenue and Leslie Street area by a night of -14°C in January 2008. .
The girl was found alone, face down with minor cuts and bruises, but later recovered and was adopted. Children’s Aid removed the couple’s three other children following the incident.
Alphanso was sentenced to 22 months in prison, but spent 11 months in custody awaiting trial and was given two-for-one credit and released. Stephanie was fined under the Family Services and Child Protection Act.
After their move, Jamaican police were called in early 2012 to investigate the disappearance of the couple’s two-year-old son.
They later pleaded guilty to covering up his death after neighbors discovered the toddler’s partially decomposed and mummified body in a suitcase at the Warrens’ Kingston apartment.
A pathology report in the case showed the toddler likely died of illness, poisoning or asphyxiation, although it was impossible to be certain of the cause of death due to the condition of the remains after examination, the report concluded.
Neither parent has been charged with the child’s death.
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