Former politician Joylan Silvera, who pleaded guilty to the November 10, 2023, killing of his wife, Melissa, was ordered to spend 20 years and 10 months behind bars for his crime.

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes handed down the sentence on Friday, March 6, slapping Silvera with 20 years on count one and 20 years and 10 months on count two. He will serve the higher sentence as the prison terms are to run concurrently.

Joylan’s case was heard in the Gun Court Division in downtown Kingston, where he pleaded guilty to manslaughter on February 2, and entered a guilty plea for lesser charges of manslaughter and using a firearm to commit manslaughter.

Joylan, the former MP for St Andrew Western, and Melissa got married on December 12, 2015, at the historic St Andrew Parish Church in Half- Way Tree, St Andrew.

At the same church on January 12, 2024, Silvera wept at the thanksgiving service for the life of his wife after her killing.

He was then arrested and charged with her murder six days later, less than eight years after their marriage.

According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, sometime after 10:30 pm on November 10, 2023, Silvera told his wife and children that he was leaving to attend a meeting and that he would return the following day.

Melissa reportedly told him he could not leave, and an argument ensued. The adults swore at each other, and then he left.

Sometime before 6:00 am the next day, one of the children went into his parents’ bedroom and discovered his mother’s lifeless body on the floor next to their bed. He noticed that there was blood coming from her orifices and that her dress was covered with blood.

He ran from the bedroom and alerted his brother, who accompanied him back to his parents’ bedroom, where they both checked for signs of life from her body. They tried to make contact with their father and were eventually successful.

Silvera indicated in a witness statement that he called the Stony Hill Police Station while on the way home after he had spoken to his son.

Upon arrival at his house, Silvera went into his bedroom (based on the statements from his children) and “saw his wife in a sitting position with her head leaning forward at the side of the bed”. He claimed he touched her, spoke to her, and found that she was not responding.

Sometime after, a first responder, who was an officer of the Stony Hill Police Station, arrived at the house and went into the bedroom where he saw the body of Melissa Silvera. He took a photograph of the body and had Silvera cover the nude section of the body. The first responder did not further examine the body as Silvera was still crying.

The first responder, after learning from Silvera that his wife had no known medical condition, indicated that a post-mortem examination would be conducted to determine the cause of death.

A post-mortem examination was scheduled to take place on December 1, 2023, but on that date, the pathologist discovered that there were scars on the body.

The post-mortem examination was done on December 15, and the pathologist noted that there were three gunshot wounds: one perforating gunshot wound to the front of the right thigh, one penetrating gunshot wound to the left side of the lower abdomen, and a third, a superficial penetrating gunshot wound to the right side of the lower abdomen.

His arrest and charge on January 18, 2024, followed ballistic tests, which confirmed that the projectiles recovered from Melissa Silvera’s body came from her husband’s licensed Glock pistol.

Silvera, who has been behind bars since then, is represented by Peter Champagnie, King’s Counsel, and Patrice Riley.