Jermaine Maynard, 48, who was sentenced to 88 years’ imprisonment back in 2016 for murdering his 20-year-old ex-girlfriend, Carlissa Matthews, has moved to the Guyana Court of Appeal requesting for his sentence to be reduced.
Following a trial before Justice Navindra Singh at the Demerara High Court, a jury found Maynard guilty of the charge, which stated that he murdered Carlissa Matthews between December 31, 2013, and January 1, 2014, at Croal Street, Georgetown.
Dissatisfied with the decision of the High Court, Maynard is now asking the Court of Appeal to reduce his sentence which he deems as being manifestly excessive and not in keeping with established sentencing guidelines.
During a brief hearing on Monday, Maynard’s lawyer, Nigel Hughes, informed the court that he has already laid over submissions addressing the severity of the sentence. Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Dionne McCammon was given until Friday to respond.
The Court of Appeal will hear arguments in the case on February 16, 2021. The presiding Judges are the Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Justices of Appeal Dawn Gregory and Rishi Persaud.
Media reports are that Maynard and the young woman shared a relationship that ended a few months before her demise. On December 31, 2013, Matthews was standing in front of a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlet in the Stabroek area when Maynard approached and asked to speak with her.
At the time, Matthews, who was in the company of relatives and friends, walked away and chatted with Maynard before he whipped out a gun and shot her to the head. The woman, who fell to the ground, was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she died the next day.
Maynard was arrested by Police while he was about to board a boat at the Guyana-Suriname “backtrack” crossing at Springlands, Corentyne, Berbice. Reports are that Maynard was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 14 years in prison for unlawfully killing a woman he had shared a relationship with.
