A One Bermuda Alliance election candidate has issued a fresh apology to the family of a teenager fatally stabbed 17 years ago for his part in the killing.

Kellan Lewis emphasised that he still felt deep regret and remorse over the incident that resulted in the death of Kellon Hill.

In an interview with The Royal Gazette, Mr Lewis said he believed he had paid his debt to society — but wanted to give more back to turn negatives into positives, to serve his community and to prevent today’s young Black men from taking the path he took as a teenager.

Mr Lewis was 16 when he was among a group that set upon Mr Hill, 18, as the young man was leaving a party at Elbow Beach in August 2008.

At a trial two years later, jurors acquitted Mr Lewis’s four co-accused on the orders of the judge.

The jury failed to reach a verdict regarding Mr Lewis. However, after a retrial he was convicted and later sentenced to 12 years in prison for manslaughter.

Mr Lewis said that he had apologised to the family of his victim at the trial.

He added that he also wrote a letter to them once he was incarcerated, after sessions with a prison psychologist, but still did not know if that letter was delivered.

It was announced last week that Mr Lewis, who was released from prison in December 2014, will run as the OBA candidate for Southampton West (Constituency 32) in the General Election.

His appointment was described as “shocking” by Mr Hill’s family, who claimed that, because of his criminal past — and his failure to take responsibility for his actions and apologise for them — Mr Lewis was unsuitable for public office.

In a statement, the family said: “The lack of consultation with victims’ families in such matters demonstrates a troubling level of insensitivity and a failure to understand the core principles of justice and rehabilitation.

“True rehabilitation begins with acknowledgement of harm and making things right with those who have suffered.”

Responding to those allegations, Mr Lewis said he fully understood the Hill family’s anxiety — but that he had apologised to the family several times since his conviction.

He told the Gazette: “First of all, I would like to apologise again to the Hill family, especially if my written apology wasn’t received.

“I understand the pain that I’ve caused you and the community as a whole and I would like to apologise to everyone who was affected. I’m sorry.

“I know I can’t change the past. I know I can’t change your pain but what I can do is prevent others from feeling that same pain you feel. And that’s what I’m trying to do now. And I think the best way I can do that is by serving my community in any way I can.

“That’s what I’ve tried to do since my release and this is another step on that journey.

“I feel absolute regret for what happened and I accept full responsibility for my actions. But you have to understand that my life has changed.

“I haven’t tried to hide my past — I’ve always been very open and frank about it. That’s something that I have to do if I want to be an agent of change.

“I asked God to show me my purpose and this is what was revealed. This is the direction I was led to.

“My purpose is to be part of the change that I want to see in our society.”

Mr Lewis, 33, is the father of three young girls. He is an assistant manager at the Pompano Beach Club and spends time outside work mentoring young men.

While at Westgate, Mr Lewis wrote Street Philosophy, a book detailing his descent into crime, his determination to emerge from it and his efforts to deter others from taking the same path.

In 2020, he told an audience at the Bermuda Library: “You have to bring individuals from the street to meet with people in the community, to find out what they need to move forward.”

That is a view Mr Lewis still holds today.

He said: “At one point, I was the inspiration for darkness but I’ve taken that darkness and am channelling it into something light.

“That’s my message to the youth of Bermuda. I want to be an example to them — a lesson to them.

“They don’t have to make the same mistakes that I made as a youth but they can learn from my mistakes and benefit from them, without actually making them.”

Mr Lewis will be up against Scott Simmons, of the Progressive Labour Party, on February 18.

Mr Simmons held the seat for the PLP in the October 2020 election, securing 70 per cent of the vote.

Asked why he opted to sign up for the OBA, Mr Lewis gave a measured response.

He said: “I have nothing against the PLP.

“My family are PLP. My grandmother was a candidate for the PLP. But I don’t suffer from group think; I have an independent mind.

“I just feel that the OBA has done more for my community.

“It’s a safe PLP seat and I don’t think that the PLP is taking votes for granted. But at the same time, I know that people in my community feel that they don’t have a voice.

“I want to give them a voice.”

The Gazette contacted the person who sent the Hill family statement last week and was advised that they had no further comment to make.

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