A 20-year-old Washington D.C. man was convicted early on Saturday morning of shooting a Bermudian woman's son and was sentenced to 75 years imprisonment.

Clifton Derwin Badgett killed 28-year-old Jay Willis Holmes -- the only son of Cynthia Bean Holmes, formerly of North Shore, Pembroke -- over the honking of a car horn in the early hours of January 28.

The news came in the Saturday editions of American newspapers The Prince George's Journal and the Washington Post.

Jurors deliberated for ten hours before finding Badgett guilty of second degree murder and related charges. They found him not guilty of first degree murder which requires evidence of premeditation.

Three of Badgett's friends who were with him in his car that night gave written statements to police stating that Badgett was angry after the car driven by Mr. Holmes' friend honked at him as he pulled out of a service station.

Badgett caught up with the car, leaned out of his window and fired as many as five times into the passenger side where Mr. Holmes sat.

He was in the car with three friends. They were in the Pepper Mill Drive area of Washington D.C. -- less than a block from the Capitol Heights' residence where Mr. Holmes lived with his mother.

Circuit court judge Vincent J. Femia proceeded directly to the sentencing after receiving the verdict.

The Washington Post reported that Badgett asked the judge to suspend his sentence as he was a young man, saying: "I haven't really lived yet.'' The judge replied: "What I find ironic is that Mr. Holmes can't stand before me and say `I'm a young man; I haven't lived my life'. Mr. Holmes is dead.'' After hearing the verdict, Ms Holmes told the Washington Post that she wanted her son's life "to be a memorial for young people striving to make something of their lives''.

"He loved the Lord. We know we'll see him again.'' Police claim Badgett is a senior member of Washington crack-selling gang, the 58th Street Mob. They said he was out on bond and awaiting trial on a weapons charge at the time of the shooting.

Mr. Holmes was a dental assistant and Howard University student. Although legally a US citizen, Mr. Holmes was planning to apply for Bermuda status.

BERMUDIAN BDA