A Kenyan politician who once ran for president and sought refuge in Australia is facing jail time for a tragic incident involving his three-year-old son.
Quincy Zuma Wambitta Timberlake, 43 years old, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after admitting to causing the death of his son Sinclair, who passed away in June 2014 at their home in Kallangur, north of Brisbane.
The heartbreaking incident began when Timberlake found his son at the bottom of the stairs, apparently injured.
He became convinced that there was an evil presence in the house and decided to confront it using a Bible.
He told the Brisbane Supreme Court that he intended to “slap the devil” out of his son’s stomach.
Sinclair’s mother, Esther, was unaware of what was happening and heard her son’s cries and thuds from behind the bathroom door as she emerged from the shower.
When she opened the door, she saw her son in pain and doubled over.
Timberlake had struck Sinclair forcefully in the stomach, believing there was a demon inside him.
In a fit of rage, he threw the child against the bathroom wall.
After Sinclair fell to the ground, Timberlake declared that “the devil has gone now” and began talking about removing the demon from his son’s stomach.
Tragically, emergency services later found Sinclair lifeless on the bedroom floor.
The couple initially kept quiet about the incident in the bathroom, but Timberlake was recorded in the morgue speaking about it, making references to the Bible and repeatedly apologizing for failing his son.
It wasn’t until weeks later that Esther Timberlake, who had been released on parole after admitting her role in her son’s death, informed the police about the attack.
She explained that her husband was experiencing delusions.
Quincy Timberlake’s life has been marked by hardship, as he faced abuse and lived on the streets during his childhood.
Despite these challenges, he managed to earn a degree in chemical engineering.
He met Esther, a lawyer in Australia, and the couple formed the PlaCenta (Platinum Centraliser and Unionist) political party in Kenya.
However, they faced persecution and decided to leave Kenya due to their vilification and mistreatment.
Timberlake, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, was sentenced based on the belief that he intended to cause serious harm to his son, but he was of diminished responsibility at the time due to his mental state.
“That is, at the time of doing the act which caused Sinclair’s death, you were in such a state of abnormality of mind as substantially to impair your capacity to know that you ought not to do the act,” Freeburn said
The judge ruled that Timberlake would be eligible for parole after serving more than nine years in custody.
However, his immigration status makes him liable for either deportation or indefinite detention upon his release.
