Latest update February 6th, 2025 7:27 AM
Businessman gets 66 years for murder over “fowl cock”
Amidst tears, relatives of the businessman implicated in the “fowl cock” row which led to the death of a 38-year-old
Murder Accused Mark Assing called “Jesse”
Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara resident, listened in dismay yesterday as he was sentenced to a total of 66 years in jail for murder.
Mark Assing, called “Jesse”, was indicted for the murder of Abiola Eadie, who was shot in her face during a row over a fowl cock at Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara, on June 20, 2012.
Her son, Martin Barker reportedly sustained gunshot wounds to his chest. Twelve days after the incident, the woman succumbed to her injuries at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
Assing’s trial was conducted before Justice Navindra Singh and a mixed twelve-member jury at the Georgetown Supreme Court. The 44-year-old father of five was represented by Attorneys -at- Law Peter Hugh and Latchmie Rahamat.
Following a guilty verdict by the jury yesterday, Assing’s lawyers begged the court for leniency as his relatives became overwhelmed with emotion.
Justice Singh had sentenced Assing to serve a minimum of 60 years for the murder and eight years was added to the sentence for the weapon used in committing the crime. Two years was, however, deducted for the time the accused had spent in prison awaiting trial.
Assing would need to serve thirty years behind bars before he is eligible for parole, the judge ruled.
The man’s relatives continued to display their emotions as he was being escorted from the courtroom to the prisoners’ holding cell to await transport to the Georgetown Prisons.
Some of the women screamed and wept loudly, disturbing the usually serene environment of the Georgetown Supreme Court. Their tantrums caused members of the jury to remain inside the courtroom until they had left the building.
On Thursday, Assing in his defence told the court that he was innocent of the crime. Instead, he claimed that
Deceased Abiola Eadie
someone else had shot the woman.
Earlier yesterday, a confident Assing was heard uttering that he was going to be a free man. “I going home …I done bring my goods and everything from prison already I going home today,” he said.
At the beginning of the trial, State Prosecutors, Judith Gildharie-Mursalin and Narissa Leander told the court that on July 4, 2012 Government Pathologist, Dr. Nehaul Singh did the autopsy and came to the conclusion, that the victim had died as a result of the gunshot injuries she sustained to her head.
Mursalin called a number of persons to the stand including chief witness Ayesha George, mother of the deceased Pamela Eadie, as well as her father, Lennox Jones.
George had told the court that she witnessed the shooting which claimed the life of her neighbour, Abiola Eadie. She recalled that on June 20, 2012 she was sitting at a window of her apartment, when she saw the accused “Jesse” involved in a heated confrontation with Abiola Eadie who lived in the lower flat of her building.
The woman said that Jesse was quarrelling loudly on the street accusing one of Eadie’s sons (Martin) of “blinding his game cock in one eye.”
The woman said that the victim called out to Martin four times before he came outside the house. It was then, the witness told the court that Jesse’s wife came out onto the street and began quarrelling as well; the couple was armed with knives.
George said that she went downstairs and attempted to make peace between the warring parties, but the accused then pulled out a gun from his waist and pointed it at Martin.
The witness said that Eadie quickly jumped in front of the pistol in an attempt to defend her son from their angry neighbour and she also went and stood between them but Jesse shoved her aside.
She related that she heard a gunshot and saw her neighbour collapse to the ground.
The witness also said that she heard two shots fired, before she lost consciousness. The woman said that when she came to, she realized that both mother and son were seriously injured.
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