Aaron Hing was on Friday sentenced to death after a 12-member jury at the Berbice High Court found him guilty of murdering his godbrother, British citizen, Dominic Bernard in 2015.
Hing was sentenced by Justice Sandil Kissoon for the capital offence of murder. He had denied that on October 14, 2015, at Kildonan Village, Corentyne, East Berbice, he murdered Bernard.
On Friday afternoon, after deliberating for almost two hours, the jury returned a guilty verdict against Hing.
“All I have to say is to God be the glory,” High said following the verdict.
The victim’s mother Linden Bernard, in an address to the court, called out Hing for his “lowlife cowardly act” and said: “We trusted you, we opened our hearts and home for you.
“You are a fool and liar for thinking you could have gotten away with this…I want you to wake every day in your prison cell thinking about what you did,” she said.
Meanwhile, the victim’s father Andrew Bernard, who is also Hing’s godfather said, “you were the main architect and premeditator behind this brutal crime… you’re a liar, a coward and a murder.”
He added: “As they say, if you’re prepared to do the crime, you must do the time,” the grieving father said. He explained that his younger daughter is still haunted by the traumatic memories of her brother’s death.
Justice Kissoon, after highlighting the gruesome and savage manner in which the teenager was killed, told Hing: “You’re unfit to dwell among ordinary human beings” as he imposed the death sentence.
Last month, Hing had opted to plead guilty to his crime, but Justice Kissoon did not accept the plea due to the accused not accepting the prosecution facts that he was the mastermind behind the teen’s death.
Last month, Hing’s co-accused Staymon George called ‘Sherwin’, pleaded guilty to the capital offence of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after serving 35 years.
Hing’s child mother Krystol Thomas, her mother Sinfine Henry, also known as ‘Coreen’ and his friend, Jahmil Sinclair are currently awaiting trial for the offence of accessory to murder in connection with the incident.
The British teenager reportedly arrived in Guyana on the evening of October 14, 2015; he was scheduled to return to England on November 5, 2015.
Hing became a person of interest after he disappeared when the police attempted to contact him. As law-enforcement officers continued to dig for information, George was added to the list of suspects.
Police later captured them both — Hing at a city hotel and George at a house in Tucville, Georgetown. They were arrested after the decomposed body of a male, believed to be that of the missing teenager, was discovered a few villages from Kildonan – the same community where he was expected to spend his time during his visit to Guyana.
The two later admitted that they picked up the teenager from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and on their way to Berbice, they stopped along Sheriff Street, where they ate and drank a few beers.
Police had discovered the teen’s camera and its components; they were dug up after Sinclair took law enforcement officers to an area behind Nurney Village and pointed out where he had hidden the equipment.
A post-mortem performed on the body revealed that the British teenager was struck at the back of the head; he sustained a fractured skull and a broken neck.
