70-year-old Randolph Fitz Josiah was today sentenced to 11½ years behind bars by High Court Judge Navindra Singh for the 2013 killing of his then 14-year-old stepdaughter, Fenella Samuels.
Initially indicted for murder, Josiah opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter, thereby admitting that on April 24, 2013, at Plastic City, Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, he unlawfully killed Samuels.
Reports are that at about 20:45 hrs on the day in question, Josiah stabbed the teen 21 times after a verbal altercation between the two spiraled out of control.
Her mother, Mildred Rose, was wounded when she tried to intervene on her daughter’s behalf and managed to escape with her nine-year-old son.
The teen was rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) by neighbours but later succumbed.
After committing the gruesome act, Josiah, who fled the house garbed only in his underwear, was held by public-spirited citizens and later handed over to the police.
Police had said that the relationship between Josiah and the teen was not a “healthy” one since arguments were the order of the day.
It is against this background that State Prosecutors Teriq Mohammed and Tyra Bakker contended that the young girl’s killing was pointless.
Mohammed and Bakker urged the court to impose a sentence that reflects the offence’s gravity and nature.
Consequently, Justice Singh imposed the custodial sentence. He ordered that the prison authorities deduct the time the convicted killer spent on pre-trial from the sentence. Attorney-at-Law Mark Conway represented Josiah.
