NASSAU- A jealous man who tried to kill his former girlfriend because she had dumped him has lost a bid to appeal his 30-year sentence.
A Court of Appeal panel on Wednesday found that Gary Thurston’s intended appeal had no prospects of success and affirmed his sentence.
In a fit of jealousy, Thurston, 36, went to Stephanie Kemp’s home in Ridgeland Park West on April 6, 2016, and shot her in the chest with his shotgun.
He then callously pressed the barrel of the shotgun to her chest and said, “If I can’t have you no one could have you.”
According to the prosecution, Thurston attempted to kill Kemp after he murdered her schoolmate Sekeno Collie because he thought they were dating.
Collie was on Kemp’s front porch when Thurston arrived. He was killed as he was about to leave.
Thurston also shot Kemp’s mother, Conceta Lawrence. She lost her ring finger in the shooting, as she put her hands up in defense as Thurston shot at her. She was also shot in the thigh.
Earlier that day, Thurston had stolen Kemp’s cellphone when he visited her home begging for another chance. After she rejected him, he confronted her about the identity of “this G person” in her phone.
Kemp told him that it was not important since they were no longer an item.
The three-judge Court said that Thurston was fortunate that the jury did not convict him of the murder of Collie and the attempted murder of Lawrence because the evidence was “overwhelming.”
The shooting happened four days after Kemp called it quits.
The couple met at church in January 2015, and eventually Thurston moved into Kemp’s home. She lived there with her two children from a previous relationship and her mother and sister.
