Sherwin Roberts, the Sophia man who was two years ago accused of killing his one-year-old niece, was yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to the crime.
Roberts, 22, yesterday admitted that on September 1st, 2017, at Lot 98 North Sophia, Greater Georgetown, he murdered Ronasha Pilgrim. The young man pleaded guilty before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow after the opening of the Demerara criminal assizes.
The state’s case, which was presented by Prosecutor Sarah Martin, stated that on September 1st, the toddler was at home with two older brothers, who were ages 10 and 12, while their father was working the night shift as a security guard.
Roberts gained access to the home by breaking a window around 3am and then tried to take the toddler’s earring, causing her to scream. He subsequently threw the child through the window into the yard, which was slushy. It was further revealed that prior to Roberts leaving, he had placed wood on top of the child, thereby burying her alive. The child’s body was, however, recovered just about an hour after the incident occurred.
During mitigation, Roberts’ attorney, Maxwell McKay, told the court that his client showed remorse and mentioned the statement Roberts gave to the police where he apologised and noted that he did not mean to kill the girl. Roberts then told the court that at the time he had taken his anger out on his niece.
Before the sentence was handed down by the judge, Prosecutor Martin asked the court to consider the way that the child was killed, the age and her relationship with Roberts.
In delivering the sentence, the judge noted that the child faced a cruel death and furthermore, Roberts did not only throw his niece through the window but buried her alive in the swampy yard. Justice Barlow sentenced Roberts to life in prison and ordered that he be exposed to educational and anger management programmes in prison. Roberts will serve 20 years before he is eligible for parole.
