Wortmanville man pleads guilty to manslaughter

A Wortmanville, Georgetown man, who was charged with the 2022 murder of 30-year-old Aubrey Baird, pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter when he appeared before the Demerara High Court on Tuesday.
Brian Matterson appeared before acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh on Tuesday.
The state is being represented by Prosecutor Geneva Wills.
According to the prosecution’s statement of facts, Baird was in the company of others when he and Matterson became involved in a verbal exchange that later escalated into a physical confrontation. During the altercation, Baird reportedly struck Matterson twice.

The court was told that Matterson subsequently armed himself with a knife and stabbed Baird twice. Baird later succumbed to his injuries, and a post-mortem examination determined that perforation of the heart was the cause of death.
Following the plea, Justice Singh ordered that a probation report and victim impact statement be prepared and submitted to the court on or before March 10. Matterson is scheduled to be sentenced on March 16.

Police reports at the time had stated that Baird, a vendor of Hardina Street, Wortmanville, was fatally stabbed during an incident that occurred just after 21:00h in the community. Eyewitnesses had reported that an argument erupted between the two men, during which Baird punched Matterson in the face.
Matterson reportedly left the scene on a bicycle but later returned after being encouraged by others in the area to “properly represent himself”. Upon his return, he confronted Baird and stabbed him in the chest, in the region of the heart.
Baird collapsed at the scene and was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Following the incident, Matterson was reportedly attacked and beaten by residents before being taken into police custody.
At the time, Baird’s wife said she rushed to the scene after hearing the commotion, only to find her husband lifeless.
Matterson, a resident of Wortmanville, had previously appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on an attempted murder charge arising from the alleged stabbing of his neighbour, Ronald Bettencourt, during a separate incident.