{"id":254736,"date":"2025-10-20T14:34:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T18:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=254736"},"modified":"2025-10-20T14:34:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T18:34:28","slug":"sentencing-for-killer-of-customs-officer-delayed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/sentencing-for-killer-of-customs-officer-delayed\/","title":{"rendered":"Sentencing for Killer of Customs Officer Delayed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The sentencing of St Lucian national Delon Charlery<\/strong>\u2014who admitted to killing Customs Officer Zorina Benjamin<\/strong>\u2014has been postponed to 24 October<\/strong> to allow for an additional pre-sentencing report.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Charlery was due to be sentenced on 17 October<\/strong>, but the High Court adjourned the matter. He initially pleaded not guilty before Justice Ann-Marie Smith<\/strong> in 2023 but later changed his plea after audio evidence undermined his account of events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surveillance footage, though lacking visuals of the shooting, captured an argument between the couple and the sound of a gunshot.<\/p>

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Benjamin was found dead at her Golden Grove home<\/strong> on 22 November 2021<\/strong>, having suffered a single gunshot wound to the head. She left behind a young child.<\/p>

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Charlery, who was arrested shortly after the incident, remains in custody at His Majesty\u2019s Prison<\/strong> awaiting sentencing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sentencing of St Lucian national Delon Charlery\u2014who admitted to killing Customs Officer Zorina Benjamin\u2014has been postponed to 24 October to allow for an additional pre-sentencing report. Charlery was due to be sentenced on 17 October, but the High Court adjourned the matter. He initially pleaded not guilty before Justice Ann-Marie Smith in 2023 but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":252411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-254736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSentencing for Killer of Customs Officer Delayed - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/sentencing-for-killer-of-customs-officer-delayed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sentencing for Killer of Customs Officer Delayed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The sentencing of St Lucian national Delon Charlery\u2014who admitted to killing Customs Officer Zorina Benjamin\u2014has been postponed to 24 October to allow for an additional pre-sentencing report. Charlery was due to be sentenced on 17 October, but the High Court adjourned the matter. 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