Godfrey Gill called ‘Chucky’ was on Friday sentenced to 11 years and four months imprisonment for his role in the 2016 killing of 76-year-old David Ramkissoon, who died during a robbery at his Better Hope, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home.
Gill, formerly of Prince William Street Plaisance, ECD, was sentenced by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the Demerara High Court.
Last month, he was arraigned for the capital offence of murder but opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. The 29-year-old man admitted that on August 21, 2016, he unlawfully killed Ramkissoon during the course of a robbery.
During the sentencing hearing on Friday, his probation report was read in court by a social worker who said that based on the investigation she conducted, residents described Gill as a quiet individual who hung out with “questionable characters.”
The victim’s daughter-in-law Nalini Ramkissoon provided the court with a victim impact statement which was read by the state prosecutor, Caressa Henry.
Ramkissoon recalled finding her father-in-law’s lifeless body on that fateful day, an image she said she would never get out of her head.
Meanwhile, Gill in his address to the court said, “I’m very sorry for all that happened. I did not mean for anyone to get hurt…It was a result of bad influence from the bad company I had.”
His attorney Dexter Smartt said that the matter was a “very sad situation that could have been avoided.”
The Judge, after imposing the sentence, ordered that the prison authorities deduct the time Gill spent on remand from his sentence.
According to the prosecution’s case, on the day in question, the victim was at home when Gill, along with others, invaded the building and robbed him. During the robbery, his throat was slit.
The matter was reported to the police after relatives returned from the creek and discovered his body.
According to reports, Gill had a dispute with one of his accomplices over the division of the loot. As a result, police were tipped off and Gill was arrested.
