Joshua O’Neil, who was accused of murdering Marlon Peters on May 9, 2020, was on July 30, 2024 sentenced to 20 years imprisonment following a guilty plea before Judge Sherdel Isaacs Marcus at the High Court.
On May 14, 2020 O’Neil had appeared before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court accused of fatally stabbing Peters during a quarrel over a cellular phone at Gobin Dam, Friendship, East Bank Demerara.
It was reported by police that an eyewitness had said that she saw Peters walking towards his home when he was approached by O’Neil. She recalled hearing an argument erupt between the two men over a cellular phone that was stolen sometime back while they were in the interior, she told the police. Peters walked away, the police were told, but O’Neil followed and dealt him several stabs with a knife, then ran into some nearby bushes.
Peters, who sustained a single stab to the abdomen and two stabs to the back, was picked up and rushed to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, where he was later pronounced dead.
O’Neil, who pleaded guilty on July 30, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with the possibility of parole after serving 15 years.
