A 32-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment, less time already served, after pleading guilty to the murder of an indigenous village leader.
The sentence was handed down by Justice Navindra Singh at the High Court in Essequibo. Addisena Benjamin of Kurutuku Village, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), was indicted for the capital offence of murder and opted to plead guilty.
The charge stemmed from the killing of Toshao Solomon Lewis, 52, which occurred on January 1, 2019, in Kurutuku Village.
According to the prosecution’s case, presented by State Counsel Caressa Henry, the fatal incident unfolded following a heated altercation between Benjamin and Lewis.
The confrontation reportedly erupted after Benjamin allegedly assaulted Lewis’ daughter, Sarah Lewis, with whom he shared a relationship. The altercation turned deadly when Benjamin dealt Lewis a chop to his shoulder with a cutlass.
The injuries proved fatal. A post-mortem later revealed the cause of death as septic shock due to meningitis and bronchopneumonia, both resulting from multiple injuries sustained during the attack.
In addition to fatally injuring Lewis, Benjamin also attacked and wounded Marvin Lewis, the victim’s son. Benjamin was represented by defence attorney Tonza Sarabo.
During mitigation, Sarabo asked the court to consider Benjamin’s guilty plea and the time he had already spent on remand since 2019.
Prosecutor Henry, in her submissions, pointed to several aggravating factors, including the use of a deadly weapon in the commission of the crime, the victim’s vulnerability due to his age, and the troubling frequency of unlawful killings in society.
In handing down the sentence, Justice Singh ordered that the time already served be deducted from the 20-year prison term.
