Convicted killers Garvin "Beam" Sookram and Keron "Bellies" Lopez, yesterday had their convictions for murder confirmed by the Court of Appeal. In an oral judgment, Appeal Court president Ivor Archie dismissed the appeal. Justices Paula Mae Weekes and Alice Yorke-Soo Hon also comprised the panel. Sookram, a reputed gang leader from Sawmill Avenue, Barataria, and his partner, Lopez, were convicted on March 2, 2009 of the murders of Kerwin "Richie" Hinds, and Kerwin "Ox" Cyrus, on July 28, 2004, at Sawmill Avenue, Barataria.
Dana Seetahal, SC, appeared for the State, while Pamela Elder, SC, and Richard Mason represented the appellants. On July 28, 2004, Hinds and Cyrus were ambushed in a track off Granado Street, Sawmill Avenue, and shot several times.One man, Sean Quamina, managed to escape and went to the Morvant Police Station where he identified Sookram and Lopez days later as the two men who had killed Hinds and Cyrus.