HIGH COURT Judge, Navindra Singh, on Wednesday, sentenced a 70-year-old man to serve 11 and a half years’ imprisonment for killing his 14-year-old stepdaughter, Fenella Samuels, in 2013.  Fitz Josiah was arraigned in court for the offence of murder, but opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. The elderly man admitted that on April 24, 2013, at Plastic City at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, he unlawfully killed Samuels called ‘Nella.’  He was represented by Attorney-at-law, Mark Conway, while the State was represented by prosecutors Tyra Bakker and Teriq Mohammed. According to reports, on the day in question at the family’s

Plastic City home, Josiah and Samuels had a misunderstanding during which he threw a kerosene stove at her.

He then armed himself with a knife and dealt the teen several stabs about her body. In an attempt to get away from her attacker, the teen tried jumping through a window but Josiah held onto her hair and continued stabbing her.  The teen’s death was due to 21 stab wounds to her face, arms and back. Prosecutor Bakker, during her address to the court, described Josiah actions as a senseless and cowardly. She urged the court to consider the nature and gravity of the crime Josiah committed.  In sentencing Josiah, Justice Singh considered his age and his plea. He then imposed the 11 and half years sentence on him. The judge ordered the prison authorities to deduct from the sentence the time Josiah spent in pre-trial custody.