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Teen to stand trial for deadly Mahdia dorm fire
Kaieteur News – The teenage girl, charged with 20 counts of murder in connection with the deadly Mahdia dorm fire in 2023 has been committed to stand trial in the High Court after the lower court found substantial evidence against her for the murders.
Children who died as a result of the Mahdia fire
Special Prosecutor of the case, Latchmie Rahamat confirmed this to reporters on Wednesday. The tragic fire, which occurred in May 2023, resulted in the deaths of 20 children, including 18 female students aged 12 to 17 and a 5-year-old boy, the son of one of the dorm parents.
The ruling was made on February 14, 2025, by Senior Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Mahdia Magistrate’s Court. The teenager, who was 15 years old at the time of the incident, was represented by Attorney-at-Law Dexter Todd.
The charges alleged that the teen on May 21, 2023 at the Mahdia Secondary School Female Dormitory Mahdia, Essequibo murdered Nicholeen Robinson, Martha D’Andrade, Shorline Bellarmine, Eulanda Carter, Adonijah Jerome, Subrina John, Cleoma Simon, Tracil Thomas, Andrea Roberts, Lisa Roberts, Rita Jeffery, Loreen Evans, Delicia Edwards, Belnisa Evans, Lorita Williams, Mary D’Andrade, Omefa Edwin, Natalie Bellarmine, Arianna Edwards and Sherona Daniels in the course of arson.
Rahamat noted that the defence had submitted a ‘no case’ submission, suggesting the teenager was not actively involved in the fire. However, the prosecution countered this submission, providing strong circumstantial evidence.
The prosecution in its response to the no case submission, detailed that the teenager became upset after her phone was confiscated by a teacher. The prosecution presented testimonies from survivors, including Alica Booker, Felisha Henery, and Serendi Xavier, who claimed to have witnessed the accused with a yellow cigarette lighter and perfume before the fire. The accused allegedly told them she planned to use these items to set the dorm on fire. “The accused was annoyed and planned to burn down the dorms, which Alica Booker, Felisha Henery and Serendi Xavier (the students that escaped the fire) supported each other by hearing/seeing (the accused) with a yellow cigarette lighter and perfume, which she claimed the she will use to start the fire with,” the prosecution stated.
“It is very strong circumstantial evidence that [the accused] maliciously set the fire at the dorms, which caused the building to burn down, caused the loss of lives and injuries to several other children…”
Additionally, quotes from the accused were presented, including one survivor recalling the accused saying, “If me na get to burn the place now it will be for tomorrow night, midnight time when everybody sleeping,” and “Is problem you all want you all gon get problem for the phone.” Due to the evidence presented to the court, Magistrate Scarce overruled the no case submission and ordered that the teenager be committed to stand trial. News of the Mahdia fire had shocked the nation and garnered international attention. Kaieteur News reported had reported that the dormitory- a flat concrete structure accommodated approximately 59 students who hailed from villages such as: Karisparu, El Paso, Micobie and Chenapou. At the time of the fire, 56 students were present while three girls had gone home for the weekend. The fire took around three and a half hours to be extinguished. It started in the bathroom area and quickly spread throughout the building.
(Teen to stand trial for deadly Mahdia dorm fire)
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