Jermaine Maynard was yesterday afternoon handed down an 88-year sentence by Justice Navindra Singh at the High Court in Georgetown, after a jury found him guilty of murdering his former girlfriend Carlisa Matthews.
Maynard, 44, who was previously convicted of a similar offence, stood expressionless in the prisoner’s dock as the verdict was announced and the sentence imposed.
In his address to the court before sentencing, state attorney Michael Shahoud asked the judge to take into
consideration the fact that Maynard had previously been sentenced to 14 years for manslaughter.
Counsel pointed out that the previous offence and the present one were similar in nature.
“Show him, [Maynard], the same mercy he showed Carlisa Matthews,” he further urged the court.
Justice Singh commenced his sentence at a base of 60 years. He then added 10 years for premeditation, six years for domestic violence, six years because Maynard had a previous similar conviction, three years for the use of a firearm, and three years for public endangerment.
In handing down the sentence, the judge noted that Maynard showed no remorse for committing the crime.
The jury returned its verdict after deliberating for about two hours.
Members of Matthew’s family, who attended the three-day trial, were visibly satisfied with the verdict and the sentence as they clapped and gave praises to God after leaving the courtroom, while Maynard’s somber relatives huddled together in a corner.
The charge against Maynard was that between December 31, 2013, and January 1, 2014, he murdered Matthews.
Matthew’s mother, Carol Kennedy, had testified that on Old Year’s night 2013, her daughter was standing outside the then Water Street KFC outlet when Maynard approached and asked to speak with her.
She said that at the time, she and Matthews were in the company of other relatives and friends waiting to celebrate the break of the New Year.
Kennedy had told the court that after the two spoke for about five minutes, she then saw the convict pull out a gun and shoot her daughter to her head. The court was told that the accused then walked away from the scene and was later arrested and charged. Matthews, meanwhile, was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), where she died while receiving medical attention.
In her testimony, Kennedy had said that her daughter, 20, and Maynard shared an abusive relationship, which the woman decided to end some six months prior to her death.
Former police constable Randy Hendricks, who also testified at the trial, recalled detaining Maynard, who was about to board a boat at the Guyana/Suriname “backtrack” crossing at Springlands, Corentyne, Berbice, after the shooting occurred.
The prosecution closed its case on Thursday, after calling a total of 11 witnesses to the stand.
In leading his defence afterward, the accused opted to give an unsworn statement, in which he briefly declared that he did not shoot Matthews and was innocent of the charge.
The state’s case was presented by Shahoud in association with prosecutors Narissa Leander and Siand Dhurjon.
Meanwhile, Maynard was represented by defence attorney Adrian Thompson.
