Man Acquitted of 2021 Murder of 15-Year-Old Dwayne Gabourel After Three Years on Remand

Tonight, the man who was accused of fatally shooting 15-year-old Dwayne Gabourel is free after spending more than three years on remand. This morning, 27-year-old Dane Gillett, who was charged with Gabourel’s 2021 murder, was acquitted in the High Court by Justice Derick Sylvester. In his 35-page written judgment, Justice Sylvestre stated that after careful examination of the case, the identification of the shooter was too weak for a jury to safely convict. Justice Sylvester detailed his extensive review of the video evidence, describing the five-plus video footage as blurry. He noted the poor visibility and the absence of a visible tattoo, which a police witness had claimed was characteristic of Gillett. Outside the courtroom, Gillett said that the system failed him, taking away years of his life on a charge prosecutors knew wouldn’t stick. He also offered his condolences to Gabourel’s family and said he hoped there was no bad blood between them. 

Dane Gillett, Acquitted of Murder: “This just goes to show that the system is full of a lot of abstract you understand? The court clearly proved today that whatever they charged me for no evidence is there to prove that the person is me the one that pulled the trigger, there is no evidence to prove that. And they know that their evidence that they have couldn’t have proved that from the start and they still made me sit in jail for three years and five months and took away a lot of time from my life, out of my family. I just want people to see that at the end of the day I just want the system, I want them to do their jobs properly because then it’s not easy to be behind those places. Men are suffering back there, back there is rough. I don’t even have mark up right now because I’m in the hole, I’m taking lick. At the end of the day I would just want the lady, I would tell the lady condolences for her loss. I know how it feels to lose someone close to you like that. I have one of my cousins that died fourteen years ago they shot him up nine times. No justice came out for him either. I know how the lady will feel. I know they’re probably sitting down angry right now because they must feel like I’m the one that killed their child. I hope they realize that the court proved today that I am not the one that did the crime. So I would just want them to clean their hearts towards me. I would just want them to clean it up. Condolences and everything towards the people and respect and love all the time.”

Gillett’s attorney, Orson Elrington, entered a no-case submission in late December 2024 on his behalf. Elrington says that Justice Sylvestre ultimately upheld the submission in the interest of justice.

Orson Elrington, Attorney: “It was a very long and comprehensive judgment as you would know. It was a 35 page judgment very thoroughly done by the judge and in which he considered all of the evidence.  There were more than 20 something witnesses in whose evidence he considered and a multitude of different types of evidence presented by the Crown which he considered and at the end of the day he essentially said that he agreed with us that the evidence tabled by the Crown was unable to sustain a conviction in this matter. And even too tenuous to even put it to the jury, even to go to the next stage in these proceedings. Essentially the judge said that the Crown was attempting to use circumstantial evidence to tie in the person who was the Dane Gillett who left the repast to the same person who was the assailant in this matter and he felt as though he considered a number of factors including the structure, the lack of identification, the fact that how did they jump from that person to the assailant. So he felt that even if it is that he was to consider the evidence taken at its highest, that it would be unsafe to have a conviction on this matter and hence why he stopped the proceedings at this stage in the proceedings.”

Gabourel’s mother declined an interview but said that the ruling brings her bitter-sweet closure. Gabourel, a promising student at St. John’s College, was shot multiple times as he brought bread from a shop at the corner of New Road and Pickstock Street. His murder was a shock to the community, as he was affectionately known in his neighborhood as the gentle giant. Investigators had stated that his murder was a case of mistaken identity.