9-years in jail for Port Kaituma man who beat wife to death

On Friday, a carpenter from Port Kaituma who entered a guilty plea to a manslaughter charge related to the passing of his common-law wife was given a nine-year prison sentence.

Based on court documents, Tyron James, 41, struck 37-year-old Evanee Baptiste in the head on July 15, 2018, near the Port Kaituma waterfront, after witnessing her dance with another man.

James recently entered a not guilty plea to a murder charge that was read to him in the Demerara High Court. But he entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The couple had children together.

James received the jail sentence from Demerara High Court Judge Priya Sewnarine-Beharry. The Prison Service must grant this killer credit for the time he spent being held before trial.

State Counsel Caressa Henry and State Counsel Joy Williams presented the indictment on behalf of the prosecution, and defence counsel Teriq Mohammed represented the criminal.

The undisputed facts state that on the relevant day, Baptiste was drinking alcohol at the waterfront when James noticed her dancing with a different man who went by the name of “Stone Face.”

When James realised this, he got upset and gave the woman a cuff to her head, which knocked her out. After that, he went to the Port Kaituma Police Station and reported what he had done.

Baptiste was taken to the Port Kaituma Hospital, where it was declared she had passed away.  Brain haemorrhage caused by blunt trauma was given as her cause of death.