Deonarine Dookhoo was on Tuesday sentenced to 35 years’ imprisonment for the murder of his mother, Teshwattie “Babo” Jaglall, following sentencing proceedings at the Berbice High Court.
The sentence was imposed by Justice Sandil Kissoon, who described the crime as one of extreme seriousness, involving gratuitous violence against a vulnerable victim within a domestic setting.
Dookhoo was convicted during the October criminal assizes for the killing, which occurred between June 30 and July 1, 2021, at their Number Three Village, West Coast Berbice home.
In outlining the court’s reasoning, Justice Kissoon noted that murder carries a maximum penalty of death under Guyanese law, but that sentencing courts must determine where an offense falls on the scale of seriousness using established principles and comparable cases.
The judge highlighted several aggravating factors, including the brutality of the attack, the familial relationship between the offender and victim, and the victim’s vulnerability, noting that such crimes strike at the core of family and social protection.
While the court credited Dookhoo for approximately four years already spent on remand, Justice Kissoon said the mitigating factors did not outweigh the gravity of the offense.
The victim was described during the trial as a family matriarch who helped care for her grandchildren.
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