Man, 70, admits to stabbing stepdaughter, 14, to death

A 70-year-old man was on Wednesday sentenced to 11 and a half years imprisonment after he confessed to stabbing his 14-year-old stepdaughter Fenella Samuels to death in 2013.

Fitz Randolph Josiah appeared before Justice Navindra Singh at the Demerara High Court for the capital offence of murder but opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

Josiah admitted that on April 24, 2013, at Plastic City in Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, he unlawfully killed Samuels called ‘Nella.’

The State was represented by prosecutors Tyra Bakker and Teriq Mohammed, while Josiah was represented by attorney-at-law, Mark Conway.

On the day in question, Josiah and the teen were involved in an argument during which he threw a kerosene stove at her; he then took a knife from a nearby cupboard and stabbed her about the body. The helpless teen tried to escape through a window but Josiah held on to her hair and continued to stab her.

A post mortem examination found that the teenager was stabbed 21 times to her face, arms and back.  Prosecutor Bakker described Josiah actions as a senseless and cowardly act, as she urged the court to consider the nature and gravity of the crime.

Justice Singh, after considering Josiah’s age and his plea, imposed a sentence of 11 and half years.  The judge also ordered that the prison authorities deduct from the sentence, the time he spent in pre-trial custody.