HIGH Court Judge, Justice Sandil Kissoon, on Wednesday, sentenced a 35-year-old man to 20 years in prison for the 2014 murder of 52-year-old Alvy Israel Richmond of Strath-Campbell, at his Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara home.

Travis Hyman, a former sawmill worker of Strath-Campbell, Mahaicony, had confessed to killing Richmond on July 21, 2014.
Hyman was initially charged with the capital offence of murder but opted to plead to the lesser count of manslaughter.

The state was represented by prosecutor Abigail Gibbs while Hyman was represented by attorneys-at-law Mark Waldron and Keoma Griffith. In a plea of mitigation, Waldron said that Hyman was remorseful and was sorry for the hurt he caused to Richmond’s family.
On the day of the incident, Waldron said, his client did not intend to kill Richmond. Such was done in anger.

State Prosecutor Gibbs told the court that Hyman was previously charged for cannabis and gun possession, and now murder. In keeping with the case, she asked the court to consider the 17cm knife Hyman used to stab Richmond to his heart.

On the day in question, Gibbs said, Hyman was a visitor to Richmond’s home and killed him in his bathroom.
After stabbing Richmond, Hyman ran away from the crime scene and did not help the injured man, who still had the knife stuck in him. Gibbs asked the court to send a strong message to the perpetrator and potential offenders to deter them from contemplating similar crimes.

Justice Kissoon, after considering that a life was lost and the aggressive factors of the case, sentenced Hyman to 20 years in jail and ordered that the prison authorities deduct the time spent on remand from it.

The Guyana Chronicle had previously reported that Hyman shared a relationship with Richmond’s sister. On the day in question, Hyman visited the home and wanted to use the washroom which was located outside in the yard.

However, Richmond came home and wanted to use the facility but when he approached to access the toilet, he found himself locked out. Hyman and Richmond argued over space in the washroom and Hyman became overly aggressive and stabbed Richmond to the chest. After committing the act, Hyman had tried to escape but was apprehended by persons in the area.