Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Fatal Stabbing Over Cell Phone Dispute

Joshua O’Neil, a 31-year-old former resident of Gobin Dam, Friendship, East Bank Demerara (EBD), has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of 33-year-old Marlon Peters.

The sentence was delivered by Justice Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus at the Demerara High Court after O’Neil pled guilty to the capital offence of murder.

Represented by attorney-at-law Ronald Bostwick, O’Neil must serve 15 years in jail before he is eligible for parole.

His admission to the crime led Justice Isaacs-Marcus to order a probation and prison report, as well as a psychiatric evaluation, to guide the sentencing decision.

The prosecution was led by State Counsel Alvaro Ramotar and State Counsel Marisa Edwards.

The fatal incident occurred on the evening of May 9, 2020, at Gobin Dam, Friendship, EBD.

Eyewitnesses reported that Peters was walking home around 21:45 hours when O’Neil confronted him near a shop, accusing him of stealing a cell phone while they were in the interior.

Peters tried to walk away, O’Neil attacked him from behind and stabbed him multiple times with a knife.

Peters suffered severe injuries, including stab wounds to his right upper abdomen and right upper back, and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, EBD.

After the attack, O’Neil fled into nearby bushes but was later apprehended after turning himself in at a police station on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD), admitting to his involvement in the stabbing. The police recovered the murder weapon at the scene.