There are a number of conspicuous incidents that have blotted copybooks in an election season where many in this country are screaming out for a viable alternative to the ruling Progressive Labour Party come February 18. These noises have inspired a reawakening of the Free Democratic Movement and a sustained collaboration of independent candidates that is unparalleled in our history. But the “combined opposition” are being let down by their seniors at the One Bermuda Alliance, the Official Opposition and home to one public relations disaster after another.

First there was the protracted tug-of-war over Smith’s West, which led to the messy expulsion of former loyalist Vic Ball. Then came the mystery resignation of MP Susan Jackson, who only recently challenged for the No 2 spot in the party. And only last week, we had an exposé of sorts from erstwhile wunderkind Justin Mathias to complete the most predictable of divorces. But none of the above compares to the handling of the Kellan Lewis candidate roll-out for its shambolically insensitive nature.

What were Jarion Richardson and his inner circle thinking?

It is not so much that Mr Lewis was the only one absent last week from an unveiling of nine candidates — suspicious in and of itself — but that the OBA could believe introducing a convicted killer in absentia without first testing the waters would be all right.

The turbulent fallout suggests it was not. Which is a shame. For the OBA, which still has three constituencies in which to supply candidates, in the wake of not fielding a full slate in 2020. And for Kellan Lewis.

As of December 31, 2024, there were only two Kellan entries on the electoral roll at the Parliamentary Registry and a third for whom Kellan is a middle name. There is no one by the name of Kellon.

There might have been, however, but for the 2008 killing of 18-year-old Kellon Hill — a crime that resulted in Kellan Lewis being sentenced to jail for 12 years, of which he served a mere four.

Kellon, Kellan: uncommon names in Bermuda, these. So any rise to national prominence of that name is bound to trigger emotions in the Hill family; most significantly if that person is the one who was found guilty of killing their son, their brother, their nephew, their future king.

Notwithstanding the inexplicable leniency afforded to Mr Lewis by the Bermuda judicial system, the young man has paid his debt to this particular society — a society that forgives all manner of crime and indiscretion and looks the other way for many others. With that as a rather undistinguished template, Kellan Lewis should not be punished as a pariah for standing as a candidate in Southampton West.

Similarly, the family of Kellon Hill are right to feel aggrieved by last week’s turn of events. While some members may have forgiven Mr Lewis and accepted whatever shows of remorse he has aired over the past 17 years, it is clear that not all of them have.

This one is on the OBA for not bringing the Hills fully into the conversation earlier, so at least they could have agreed to disagree before foraging ahead, rather than by learning through the media. The likelihood is that those who are against Mr Lewis as a candidate would still be, but then the OBA would not be so readily and properly faulted for a blatant lack of empathy.

Mr Lewis’s troubled past was always going to be a talking point of his candidacy, and it should be. However, it is his present whose foundations were built at Westgate Correctional Facility that is mightily impressive.

Not every man or woman that enters our prisons comes out a better person. But there are many who have not only slowed the rates of recidivism but have also made meaningful contributions to society — the most high-profile among them being sought-after criminal defence lawyer Charles Richardson; the late Shawn Crockwell, who rose in the political sphere to become a Cabinet minister; and Rolfe Commissiong, who before a ruinously misogynistic blip in 2019 did as much as any to advance the living wage.

Likewise, Kellan Lewis: author, community activist and promoter of aspiring young musicians. He has spent the past 11 years padding the positive attributes of his life story.

As with Mr Richardson, who served half of a 15-year sentence for a 1994 gun crime, his life was literally saved by becoming a resident at His Majesty’s Prisons in 2010. Such a theory is burnished when taking a glimpse at what became of Mr Lewis’s four alleged co-conspirators after he was jailed during a period when so-called gang violence in Bermuda was beginning to explode.

We will not name names here on the off chance that, 17 years after the death of Kellon Hill, they are belatedly leading productive and law-abiding lives, but the following composite rap sheet does not make for good reading (in no particular order):

• Convicted of the murder of Dekimo Martin and sentenced to life in prison

• Convicted of attempting to smuggle 42 pounds of cannabis from Jamaica to England and sentenced to an indeterminate term in prison

• Convicted of robbery and sentenced to five years in prison

• Sent to prison for three years after breaking terms of probation for dodging a taxi fare

• Fined $1,500 for possessing an offensive weapon in an increased penalty zone

• Fined $1,300 for driving while disqualified, failing to stop for police, driving in a dangerous manner and failing to stop at a stop sign

Most of these acts occurred as Mr Lewis was taking an enforced break from street life; in fact, while in Westgate he wrote Street Philosophy, a book detailing his teenaged descent into crime, his determination to emerge from it and his efforts to deter others from taking the same path.

So far, so good with regard to navigating the future. Whether or not it ends with a shock victory next month over the incumbent Scott Simmons, who, as a stalwart former PLP chairman and whip, is in line to succeed the retiring Derrick Burgess as deputy speaker, is irrelevant.

What is significant is the power of redemption that radiates through Kellan Lewis. For all that the Hill family are entitled to mourn the loss of their loved one and sustain a longstanding resentment towards those responsible, his is a success story that is to be celebrated on one hand and on the other to serve as a cautionary tale for today’s young Black men who are on a path to nowhere. If only the OBA had not made such a pig’s ear of its delivery.