After spending over one year on remand for the murder of his 18-month-old niece, a 22-year-old man of Lot 8 B Field Sophia, Georgetown, will spend the rest of his life behind bars after he pleaded guilty to the heinous crime during his first appearance at the Demerara High Court on Tuesday.
Justice Jo-Ann Barlow sentenced Sherwin Roberts to life imprisonment after he admitted to the capital offence which detailed on September 1, 2017, he murdered Ronasha Pilgrim.
The man was represented by Attorney Maxwell McKay while the State was represented by Prosecutor Sarah Martin.
In presenting the State’s case, Prosecutor Martin informed the court that on the day in question, the deceased along with her brothers – aged 10 and 12 years – were left in their house by their father, a security guard, who went to work.
At about 03:30h, their uncle allegedly broke a northern window, entered the house and attempted to relieve the child of her earrings.
As such, she began to scream and Roberts tossed her through a window into the swamped yard.
Upon leaving, the convict placed a pile of wood on top of the baby, who was left submerged.
Meanwhile, Defence Attorney McKay in a mitigation plea on behalf of his client told the court that he is remorseful for the act and is only 18 years old and this should be considered, however, evidence provided by the State showed that Roberts is 22 years old.
Nevertheless, Justice Barlow in handing down the sentence noted that the aggravating factors are immense and life imprisonment is more than appropriate for the crime. Additionally, the Judge noted that Roberts should be eligible for parole after serving 20 years while ordering that he undergo anger management courses during his confinement period.
