Gold miner awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to 2014 bus park killing

Gold miner Orin Jerrick of Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara (ECD), who had been charged with the 2014 murder of a father of three, has opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

The 33-year-old man was arraigned on Tuesday before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the High Court in Demerara. He pleaded guilty to unlawfully killing 35-year-old minibus driver Gavin Fiffee.

He is being represented by Attorney-at-Law Konyo Sandiford-Holder, while State Counsel Muntaz Ali, State Counsel Simran Gajraj and State Counsel Taneisha Saygon are representing the prosecution.

Jerrick reportedly stabbed Fiffee, of Sideline Dam, Beterverwagting ECD. The killing occurred on July 31, 2014, at the Plaisance minibus park in Georgetown.

According to reports, on the day in question, Fiffee was loading a minibus at the park when Jerrick began urinating on the vehicle’s wheel. This angered passengers, and Fiffee confronted Jerrick, during which a heated argument erupted between them.

Sometime after, Jerrick stabbed Fiffee in the chest. The injured man rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Jerrick was initially tried for Fiffee’s murder in 2016 and was sentenced to 28 years’ imprisonment after the jury found him guilty on the lesser offence of manslaughter.

His conviction and sentence were, however, overturned in 2020 by the Court of Appeal of Guyana which found that the trial Judge committed several errors in law which rendered his conviction unsafe.

As such, the appellate court remitted the case to the High Court for a new trial.

When the case came up on Tuesday, Jerrick, who pleaded guilty to the lesser count, was further remanded to prison where he awaits sentencing which is fixed for November 15.