The man convicted of the 2008 murder on St. Thomas of V.I. Superior Court law clerk Gabriel Lerner was sentenced this week to life in prison without parole for the crime.
Devon Auriel Frett, 24, went on trial in March for the murder, in which prosecutors argued that he, along with 19-year-old John Jared Southwell, kidnapped Lerner after he offered the two men a ride. Frett and Southwell then robbed Lerner, put him in the trunk of his own car, and killed him in a remote area on the west end of St. Thomas.
It was Southwell’s testimony, which pointed the finger at Frett, that helped earn prosecutors the conviction. Southwell, who also led investigators to Lerner’s body, pleaded guilty last September to one count each of second-degree murder and first-degree assault-robbery for his role in the crime. He is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
During the trial, which lasted three days, Frett claimed that Southwell lied, and while taking the stand in his own defense, he recanted the information contained in his own incriminating police statement, which was given to police a few days after the crime. Frett’s attorney, Michael Joseph, has said his client would be appealing the conviction.
Frett maintained his innocence while being sentenced this week. While he did not formerly address the court, his attorney Michael Joseph made a statement to that effect before Judge Harold Willocks made his ruling.
V.I. law sets a sentence of life imprisonment without parole for first degree murder convictions. Willocks also sentenced Frett to 10 years for a first degree assault conviction and 35 years for kidnapping for robbery. Both terms are to run concurrent to the life sentence, according to court documents.
