11 years in jail for pensioner who stabbed stepdaughter 21 times

70-year-old Fitzroy Randolph Josiah was on Wednesday sentenced to 11 ½ years imprisonment for the 2013 killing of his 14-year-old stepdaughter Fenella Samuels. The elderly man stabbed the teenager 21 times about her body. Initially indicted for murder, Josiah opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter, admitting that on April 24, 2013, he unlawfully killed Samuels.

The sentence was handed down by Justice Navindra Singh at the High Court in Georgetown. The killing took place at Best Foreshore, Vreed-en-Hoop, West Bank Demerara. Reports are that Samuels lived at the aforementioned address with her mother and stepfather. On the day in question, Josiah and his stepdaughter were involved in a heated argument over her refusing to follow certain house rules he had imposed. During the argument, Josiah threw a kerosene stove on her and stabbed her multiple times about the body with a knife.

Prosecutors Teriq Mohammed and Tyra Bakker described the killing of the young girl as senseless. A post mortem examination revealed that the teenager was stabbed to her face, arms, and back. The prosecutors urged the court to impose a sentence that would reflect the serious nature and gravity of the offence.

In the end, Justice Singh imposed the custodial sentence. The judge ordered that the prison authorities are to deduct the time Josiah spent in pre-trial custody from the sentence. The convicted killer was represented by Attorney-at-Law Mark Conway.