3 convicted for manslaughter awaiting sentencing

Three men who have been convicted for manslaughter are presently on remand pending sentencing. On April 13, 2021, 33-year-old Orpheus Johnson formerly of Craig, East Bank Demerara (EBD), appeared before High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon on two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. In relation to the murder charge, Johnson pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter.

Johnson admitted that on June 21, 2015, at Nandy Park, EBD, he unlawfully killed Travis Rudder. He further admitted that on April 22, at Agricola, EBD, he unlawfully killed Gladstone George. He further pleaded guilty to two counts of attempt to commit murder committed on Rudder’s reputed wife Mowanza Gill and the couple’s 18-month-old son Jaleel Rudder.
It was reported that on the day in question, Johnson went to Rudder’s home where he opened fire on the couple and their baby while they slept. Rudder was reportedly shot some 21 times about his body, while his reputed wife was shot several times to her leg.
The couple’s 18-month-old son received injuries to his stomach and leg. The family of three was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where Rudder was pronounced dead on arrival.
In addition, Johnson also pleaded guilty to killing George, who he riddled with bullets.
Reports are that on the day in question, George was a passenger in a minibus that had stopped at Agricola, EBD. It was then Johnson walked up to a window and discharged several rounds at him. An injured George was rushed to the public hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Johnson returns to court on May 3, 2021, for sentencing in relation to these matters.
Meanwhile, Eustace Abrams, the man who was implicated in the 2017 murder of a miner, will be sentenced on Monday after he was found guilty on the lesser count of manslaughter by a 12-member jury. On April 6, 2021, Abrams was convicted of the offence following a trial before Justice Brassington Reynolds.
On June 15, 2017, he unlawfully killed Orlando La Cruz, the Pomeroon River, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) man who was shot dead at Jack and Vieira Backdam, North West District (NWD). After he was arraigned before the Judge, the now-convicted killer had initially pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.
According to reports, La Cruz was lying in a hammock at his mining camp when Abrams and another man visited him and they started to consume alcohol. It was reported that shortly after, one of the men had asked La Cruz to perform oral sex on him, however, when the now-dead man refused, an argument ensued.
During the ordeal, La Cruz was shot in the right side of his neck by one of the men.
The two men made good their escape. La Cruz was later discovered in the hammock bleeding. He was pronounced dead at the Matthews Ridge District Hospital.

In another matter, 34-year-old Corwyn Arthur, who pleaded guilty to unlawfully killing his ex-partner’s lover, will also be sentenced on May 3, 2021, by Justice Kissoon. Initially indicted for the May 10, 2018 murder of 40-year-old Claude De Jonge, Arthur opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.
Arthur called “Cross Eye” formerly of Cinderella Street, Amelia’s Ward, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), fatally stabbed De Jonge, a taxi driver who was reportedly in a relationship with his ex-girlfriend. De Jonge was found lying motionlessly in a pool of blood at the woman’s home.
At the time, he was clad in trousers and his body bore several stab wounds to the neck, shoulder, and abdomen. A post-mortem examination gave his cause of death as shock and haemorrhage due to multiple stab wounds.