Accomplice sentenced to 29 years for murder of Hamson General Store owner

Feb 26, 2020 News

The second accused in the unlawful death of Farouk Ghanie has been convicted and sentenced for murder.

Guilty Kemo Evans

Kemo Evans was sentenced to 29 years in prison by Justice Sandil Kissoon after he was convicted for the offence on a unanimous guilty verdict of a mixed 12-member jury.
Evans was accused of the murder alongside Floyd Rammit, who was employed by the victim as a handyman.
The duo was charged with the unlawful killing of Ghanie, the owner of Hamson General Store on Regent Street. The murder took place at Ghanie ‘s home in Nandy Park.
The businessman was found dead in his home with stab wounds to his face and chest. He was reportedly murdered in the course of a robbery.
His handyman (Rammit) and the accomplice (Evans) were later apprehended for the killing.
Earlier this month, Rammit pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Following deliberations by the jury panel yesterday, Evans was found guilty of the crime. He was sentenced to 29 years by Justice Snadil Kissoon.
Before arriving at the sentence, the Judge took into consideration a number of factors raised by Evan’s attorney, Dexter Todd.

Murdered: Farouk Ghanie

Todd asked the court to consider his client’s age at the time of the crime (17 years) and the fact this was his first offence.
“He has no previous encounters with the law, your honour, and there is nothing to establish that he was a menace to society prior to this incident.
Additionally, the lawyer noted that evidence before the court failed to show that his client was directly responsible for death of the businessman.
State Prosecutor Tuanna Hardy urged the Court to consider that Evan has shown no remorse for the cruel and premeditated act.
The prosecutor noted that Evans’s crime resulted in a great loss to a family and to society at large.
Hardy called relatives of the deceased businessman to give testimonies on how they were affected by the tragedy.
The Prosecutor then asked the court to impose a sentence that is consistent with the nature and gravity of the offence.
Justice Kissoon’s judgment originally stood at 40 years but taking all the factors into consideration as well as the time served in prison on remand pending trial, he deducted 14 years off the sentence.
At the commencement of the trial at the High Court in Georgetown earlier this month, Senior State Prosecutor Hardy, along with State Prosecutors, Tiffini Lyken and Nafeeza Baig, presented an indictment which revealed that Rammit, formerly of Kaneville, East Bank Demerara, was employed by the businessman to care for his dogs.
She said that Rammit lived at the businessman’s Nandy Park, East Bank Demerara residence, but occupied a separate apartment.
According to the prosecution, on the day in question, Rammit and Kemo Evans, went into the businessman’s home. Ghanie was later found in his home with a stab wound to the region of his heart.
The prosecutor told the court that after the killing, Rammit fled to the interior and was only captured three months later; he took police to the home of Evans.
A few months after Rammit was arrested and charged, police issued a wanted bulletin for Evans who when arrested said that he wanted the matter to go to trial.
Kaieteur News had previously reported that on April 15, 2015, the 56-year-old businessman also known as ‘Brother’, left his home and went to his place of business on Regent Street, Georgetown.
Ghanie returned home around 18:00hrs on the said day. Around 20:00hrs, Rammit and Evans were reportedly seen in the man’s home.
A while later, the men were reportedly seen by eyewitnesses hurriedly leaving the man’s home.
The very next day, neighbours found Ghanie’s body.

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