SWAT officer gets 25 years for killing Orin Boston during unlawful raid

Sherwin Peters, 36, a former SWAT officer convicted of the lesser offence of manslaughter, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the fatal shooting of Orin Boston — a father of two — during a 2021 operation that the judge condemned as “unlawful, unreasonable, unjustified, disproportionate, and excessive.”

Peters received the sentence on Thursday from Justice Sandil Kissoon in the High Court, who ruled that the heavily armed SWAT team, which raided Boston’s home without a search or arrest warrant, had no lawful authority to enter what he described as Boston’s “castle and sanctuary.”

The judge found that Peters’ claim of a confrontation was contradicted by fellow officers and crime scene evidence, and noted that the trained SWAT unit failed to exercise caution and restraint when they shot the unarmed man while he was asleep in bed.

READ MORE: SWAT Constable who shot Orin Boston found guilty of manslaughter – News Room Guyana

Despite submissions from the prosecution referencing compensation paid to Boston’s widow and arguments by the defence for leniency, Justice Kissoon ruled that there were no mitigating circumstances in the case, adding that Peters was “fortunate” not to have faced a murder charge.

Peters, who was unrepresented during the trial but later retained Keoma Griffith for sentencing, will have his 25-year term computed from June 25 — the date when the jury returned its guilty verdict and he was remanded to prison.

The State was represented by Prosecutor Latifah Elliot.