NA man jailed for 20 years for killing drinking buddy

A New Amsterdam, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) man, was on Monday, jailed for 20 years for beating his drinking partner to death and later dumping his body in a trench.

Thirty-year-old Jerry Heralall had previously appeared before Berbice High Court Judge Navindra Singh, indicted for the January 2020 murder of 28-year-old Celon Outar.

He, however, opted to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter, thereby admitting that he unlawfully killed the man between January 25 and 27, 2020.

The killing happened at Republic Road, New Amsterdam, Berbice.

In  delivering his sentencing remarks, the presiding Judge pointed out that Heralall expressed no genuine remorse for his actions which resulted in the loss of a life.

The Judge found that a 20-year jail sentence was appropriate in the circumstances of the case. The convicted killer, the Judge ordered, must be credited for time spent in pre-trial detention.

Reports are that the two men were imbibing on January 25, 2020 at a shop at Republic Road, New Amsterdam when Heralall requested that Outar’s wife join them.

When Outar objected, a heated argument ensued between them during which Heralall picked up a piece of wood and dealt his drinking partner several lashes before pushing him into a trench from where Outar’s body was fished out two days later.

Outar’s cause of death was given as asphyxiation compounded by a fractured skull and multiple blunt force trauma to the body.