Sisters jailed 47 years for killing mother of 3

Over four years after 22-year-old mother of three Vanessa Anderson, of B Field, Sophia Squatting Dam, Greater Georgetown, was fatally stabbed, two sisters have been handed lengthy prison sentences for her murder.
Tiffenee Greaves, 33, was sentenced to 23 years imprisonment on Monday, while her sister, 25-year-old Jamacy Jason, received a 24-year prison term.
Greaves was convicted by a jury at the Demerara High Court, while Jason admitted to the killing and was sentenced separately after pleading guilty to the charge.

Justice Deborah Kumar-Chetty presided over Greaves’ trial and sentencing, with State Counsel Joy Williams representing the prosecution.
The killing followed a long-running dispute between Anderson and the sisters, who lived in the same street and were her neighbours.
A Police statement issued following the incident said the neighbours had an ongoing issue, with the sisters frequently accusing Anderson of calling the Police to search their home.
According to the Police account, the dispute escalated at about 18:30h on August 8, 2022, when Anderson was in front of her yard and was approached by the two sisters.
An argument subsequently developed, during which the younger sister took a knife from her elder sister and stabbed Anderson twice, once to the upper left side of her back and another time to her left shoulder.
Anderson stumbled backwards into her yard and eventually collapsed.
She was picked up and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

A post-mortem examination later found that Anderson had sustained multiple stab wounds, including injuries that penetrated her aorta and lung.
The evidence before the High Court established that Greaves supplied the knife to Jason, who inflicted the fatal wounds.
Justice Kumar-Chetty consequently found Greaves to have been a secondary participant in the joint enterprise rather than the person who carried out the fatal stabbing.
In determining Greaves’ sentence, the court took into consideration that she had no previous convictions and had received a favourable probation report.
She had also completed vocational training and obtained certificates in plumbing and craft.
The 23-year sentence is to be reduced by the time Greaves spent on remand.
The Judge also directed that Greaves be provided with access to educational and vocational programmes during her incarceration to assist with her rehabilitation.
The sisters were initially remanded to prison after they were arraigned before a magistrate in August 2022.
Following a preliminary inquiry, they were committed to stand trial at the Demerara Criminal Assemblies for the capital offence of murder.