Daniel Watson who in 2018 held his reputed wife’s head under water, causing her to suffocate, was yesterday sentenced to 18 years behind bars for her killing, after pleading to the charge of manslaughter.
Initially indicted for the capital offence of murder, Watson through his attorney indicated his desire to plead to the lesser charge which was accepted by Justice Sandil Kissoon and the prosecution.
He would then go on to admit that he had unlawfully killed Lowtie Atwaroo called “Mona” on May 21st, 2018 at Herstelling, East Bank Demerara.
The facts presented by State Counsel Taneisha Saygon are that the woman, who at the time was estranged from Watson, had just left his home when he followed and attacked her some distance away.
She said that he held Atwaroo’s head under water in a muddy drain and though she screamed for him to stop, he did not.
Saygon said that the woman’s cries were, however, heard by a resident who ran to her aid and saw Watson darting from the drain he was leaning over and fleeing the scene to a nearby vacant area.
The Prosecutor told the court that it was just about that time that the resident noticed the woman’s hand rising above the water and he immediately pulled her from the drain.
She was unresponsive and rushed to the hospital where she was eventually pronounced dead.
The cause of death was given as asphyxiation due to drowning, compounded by compression injuries to the neck.
Saygon had told the court that Atwaroo had gone to the man’s home about 8 that night to enquire from him why he had not gone to visit her mother who was ill at the time.
The court had heard that the two had shared a relationship for some six years, after which Atwaroo had moved out from the man’s home and had gone back to live with her parents.
When given a chance to address the court, a teary-eyed Watson who did not dispute the facts presented by the prosecutor, said that he was sorry for his actions and begged Atwaroo’s family to forgive him, even as he begged the judge for a “second chance.”
Watson said that he was annoyed on the night in question. He then then submitted that he “grew up rough” having lost his father at a tender age and raised in an orphanage.
His attorney Teriq Mohammed commended on his behalf for the court’s consideration, however, the fact that his client had thrown himself at the mercy of the court, thus saving considerable time in otherwise having to conduct a trial.
He said, too, that Watson had no antecedents and was a “model prisoner,” who attends church and apart from the offence committed is of otherwise good character.
The prosecutor, however, asked the judge to consider the cruel manner in which the woman met her end when Watson held her head beneath the water.
Agreeing with the prosecutor, Justice Kissoon said that the way Atwaroo was killed was indeed “brutal” and “gruesome.”
He said that while he took note of the mitigating factors advanced by the defence, the court needed to also have regard to the prevalence of intimate partner violence and domestic violence with which society is confronted on an almost daily basis.
Against this background, the judge said that a sentence of sufficient severity needed to be imposed to deter potential offenders.
Justice Kissoon went on to say that the gruesomeness of the crime brings to fore the what he described as the “hidden epidemic” of domestic violence and intimate partner violence plaguing the country.
He said that anger, violence and brutality have replaced harmony and conciliation in the home often resulting in hurt, disfigurement and death.
After considering both the mitigating and aggravating factors, as well as mandatory statutory deductions attendant to his plea, the judge informed Watson that he would be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 18 years.
