CoA reduces woman killer’s sentence from 88 to 46 years

The Guyana Court of Appeal has quashed the 88-year prison sentence of a man who was convicted of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend eight years ago. In January 2016, Jermaine Maynard, 50, was sentenced to 88 years’ imprisonment for murdering his former partner, 20-year-old Carlissa Matthews on December 31, 2013.

The convicted killer later challenged his conviction and sentence at the appellate court. On Monday, the appellate panel of Justices led by Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards upheld Maynard’s conviction but reduced his eight-decade-long sentence to 46 years.
The Appeal Court did this after finding that the 88 years’ sentence imposed by trial Judge Navindra Singh was excessive and not in keeping with established sentencing guidelines. In setting aside the convict’s initial sentence, the Appeal Court ruled that Justice Singh erred in his approach taken in arriving at a final sentence.
Having considered the serious nature of the offence, in particular, the prevalence of intimate partner violence and the fact that a gun was used during the commissioning of the crime, the appeal court found that a base sentence of 30 years was adequate appropriate in the circumstances of the case.
To this, the court added 10 years for premeditation and another six years for Maynard’s previous conviction for a similar offence, thereby arriving at a final sentence of 46 years in prison.

Justices of Appeal Dawn Gregory-Barnes, SC, and Rishi Persaud also sat on the panel. Maynard was represented by Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes while Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Dionne McCammon appeared for the State.
Media reports are that Maynard and the young woman shared a relationship that ended a few months before her demise. On December 31, 2013, Matthews was standing in front of a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlet in the Stabroek, Georgetown area when Maynard approached and asked to speak with her.
At the time, Matthews, who was in the company of relatives and friends, walked away and chatted with Maynard before he whipped out a gun and shot her to the head. The woman was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she died the next day. Maynard also pulled the gun on his ex’s mother.
Maynard was arrested by Police while he was about to board a boat at the Guyana-Suriname “backtrack” crossing at Springlands, Corentyne, Berbice. Reports are that Maynard was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 14 years in prison for unlawfully killing a woman he had shared a relationship with.