High Court trial for teen who chopped father to death

Rashane Joseph, 19, called ‘John Crow’, was on Monday committed to stand trial at the Berbice High Court for fatally chopping his father during an argument in 2020.

Joseph was committed by Magistrate Peter Hugh at the Blairmont Magistrate’s Court, where his preliminary inquiry was conducted for the manslaughter offence, which alleged that on August 16, 2020, he unlawfully killed his father, Collis Joseph, 42, of Spencer Street, Ithaca, West Bank Berbice.

Magistrate Hugh ruled that based on the evidence, a sufficient case was made out against Joseph for him to stand trial at the next practical sitting of the Berbice Assizes.

He remains on $100,000 bail pending trial.

According to reports, on the day in question, the father and son had an argument over the use of a bicycle and they both threatened to kill each other.

Collis later saw his son on the road and took away his bag of tennis rolls and a juice and destroyed them with a cutlass.

He also took away $1000 from the son. Roshane proceeded to his house which is a street away from his father’s house; the father, armed with the cutlass, followed him.

The son, who is a farmer, also armed himself with a cutlass and was sharpening the tool when his father threw his cutlass at him.

The weapon missed Roshane who then threw his cutlass at the father which struck him to the chest.  Collis immediately collapsed with a deep wound and his organs protruding.

The badly injured man was then rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.