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Man who raped, murdered great aunt jailed for 25 yrs.
Jailed for 25 years: Devon Griffith
Twenty-five year-old Devon Griffith was yesterday jailed for 25 years by Justice Sandil Kissoon in the Berbice High Court, for the brutal murder of his 78-year-old great aunt in October 2015.
Griffith called “Two Kick” of Cemetery Road, Hopetown Village, West Coast Berbice, was charged with the capital offence of murder, but pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.
The man who was said to be a deportee and a drug addict, killed his great aunt Vaulda Britton called ‘Auntie Vaulda’ at her home in Main Street, Hopetown, West Coast Berbice.
State Prosecutor Tuanna Hardy presented the facts while state-appointed attorney Sasha Roberts appeared for Griffith.
It was related that the offence was committed during the night of October 3, 2015 when the woman was murdered by Griffith in the course or furtherance of rape at her home.
The elderly woman was brutally raped and strangled by the accused.
The court heard that the elderly woman would usually sleep with her eight-year-old granddaughter and another relative. Griffith, who resided by his grandmother, would from time to time sleep by Mrs. Britton.
On the night in question he had visited and queried who was at home, and when told that it was the elderly woman and her granddaughter alone, he decided to stay over.
During the wee hours of the following morning the child awoke and saw Griffith standing naked over her grandmother who was lying on the floor.
The child began to cry, but Griffith covered her mouth and hit her and told her to be quiet. He then picked up the elderly woman and placed her on the bed, fixed her neatly before leaving the premises.
The child’s subsequent screams alerted relatives who rushed over. At the time the discovery was made, there were bruises on the victim’s face and she was bleeding from her ears and nostrils.
The woman was subsequently taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
An autopsy revealed that the elderly woman died from asphyxia, due to manual strangulation, compounded by strangulation rape and sodomy.
In a plea of mitigation, defence counsel Roberts noted that her client had pleaded guilty, did not wasted the court’s time, and in so doing, had taken full responsibility for his actions. She begged for leniency on his behalf.
Justice Kissoon before passing sentence stated that he would start with 60 years and add a further 10 years for the aggravation. He then took 35 years off for the man’s early plea and a further 10 for the mitigation plea, leaving a sentence of 25 years as the final decision.
The Preliminary Inquiry was conducted by Magistrate Rhondell Weaver and prosecuted by Corporal Rochelle Mars in the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court.
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