Murder of Mahaicony businesswoman: Jury frees teen boy

An 18-year-old boy was on Friday found not guilty of the gruesome murder of 56-year-old Mahaicony businesswoman, Bibi Nesha Shairoon.

The woman was beaten to death with a frying pan during a home invasion between October 15-17, 2016.

The defendant was found not guilty by the 12 members of the jury after they deliberated for almost two hours at the Demerara High Court. The case was presided over by Justice Navindra Singh.

The teen was tried as a juvenile given the fact that he was 14 when he was charged for the capital offence; his name and photo cannot be published.

The young man was represented by attorney-at-law Bernard DaSilva while the State was represented by prosecutor Tuanna Hardy.

Last year, his former co-accused Devanand Rampersaud, called Juju, was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after serving 25 years for the businesswoman’s murder.

Rampersaud was initially charged with murder but opted to plead guilty to manslaughter before Justice Sandil Kissoon.  Blaming the teenager for causing Shairoon’s death, Rampersaud had claimed that he only intended to rob the elderly woman, but it was the teen, who took a frying pan and bludgeoned the woman to death.

According to reports, Shairoon was discovered in her home by her nephew at about 06:00h with her hands and feet tied along with marks of violence about her body. Based on the post mortem report, the woman was also sexually assaulted.

The teen was arrested after neighbours informed the police that he and the businesswoman had a heated argument several days prior to her death over coconuts.