By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

THE MOTHER of a newborn baby broke down in tears yesterday as a judge rejected pleas to defer her sentence for vehicular manslaughter - saying she must go straight to jail.

Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hilton rejected pleas for compassion, ruling there were no exceptional circumstances to justify a deferral for Ashanti Johnson so she could continue nursing the child.

She was sentenced to a six-month custodial sentence for causing death by dangerous driving in a traffic accident on Queen’s Highway, Eleuthera, that killed her passenger Kendrick Moss. She crashed into a wall and a tree.

Defence attorney Wellington Orlander urged the court to defer her sentence for nine months so Johnson could continue breastfeeding her infant, stressing the importance of the six-month nursing period.

Co-counsel Jairam Mangra argued that separating Johnson from her child at such an early stage would deprive the infant of essential nourishment, citing the American Pediatric Association’s recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.

Counsel also appealed to the court’s sense of mercy, quoting Shakespeare in urging the judge to exercise “the milk of human kindness.”

Prosecutors Zandrel Bain and Betty Wilson, of the Department of Public Prosecutions, opposed the request, insisting Johnson should begin serving her sentence for vehicular manslaughter immediately.

Johnson was formally sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay $10,000 in compensation to the deceased’s estate by August 2027. She was taken into custody by Royal Bahamas Defence Force officers following the hearing.

Johnson originally faced a possible nine-month sentence, but her custodial term was reduced to six months before yesterday’s hearing.

Her attorney has signalled an intention to appeal. Justice Hilton noted, however, that the matter has concluded in the Supreme Court.