— Jason gets 24 years after guilty plea; Greaves sentenced to 23 years following jury conviction

MORE than four years after 22-year-old mother of three, Vanessa Anderson, was fatally stabbed in Sophia, her two neighbours have been sentenced to a combined 47 years in prison for her murder.

Jamacy Jason, now 25, was sentenced to 24 years in prison on August 27, 2026, after pleading guilty to the murder, while her sister, Tiffine Greaves, 33, was sentenced to 23 years on August 31 following her conviction by a unanimous jury verdict.

Justice Deborah Kumar-Chetty presided over Greaves’ trial and sentencing at the Demerara High Court. The State was represented by Fenton Budhram and Joy Williams, while the sisters were represented by R. McDonald.

The case stemmed from the August 8, 2022 killing of Anderson, who lived at B Field, Sophia, and was a mother of three young children.

According to evidence presented in court, Anderson and the sisters were neighbours whose properties were separated by a bridge. The families had reportedly been involved in an ongoing dispute, with police reporting shortly after the killing that the sisters had accused Anderson of causing police to search their home.

On the afternoon of the killing, at about 17:30h, Jason and Greaves were heard verbally abusing Anderson while she was on the stairs of her home.

Anderson later left her residence and walked to a nearby shop located one house beyond the sisters’ residence. She remained there for less than a minute before beginning her journey home.

As Anderson approached the bridge near the homes, the court heard that Greaves took a baby from Jason, removed a knife from her waist and handed the weapon to her sister.

Jason then ran towards Anderson and stabbed her twice in the back before fleeing the area with the knife in the direction of the Turkeyen Police Station.

Anderson collapsed after the attack and was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where she was pronounced dead.

A post-mortem examination subsequently confirmed that she died from stab wounds, with injuries penetrating her aorta and lung. Contemporary reports also recorded that the wounds included injuries to the upper left side of her back and left shoulder.

The sisters subsequently surrendered themselves to police at the Turkeyen Police Station and handed over the knife used in the attack. They were charged with murder and remanded to prison after appearing before Magistrate Rushelle Liverpool at the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Court in August 2022.

The prosecution’s case against Greaves centred on her role in supplying the knife to Jason. The High Court ultimately found that Greaves was a secondary participant in a joint enterprise, while Jason was the person who inflicted the fatal wounds.

In sentencing Greaves, the court considered the circumstances of the offence as well as factors relating to her as an offender.

The court noted that Greaves had no previous convictions and had received a favourable probation report. She had also completed vocational training and obtained certificates in plumbing and craft. During her incarceration, she participated in programmes including anger management, yoga and meditation.

Several aggravating factors were considered, including the use of a dangerous weapon, the severity of the injuries inflicted on Anderson, Greaves’ familiarity with the victim as her neighbour and her participation in the attack. The impact of Anderson’s death on her three children and wider family was also taken into account.

The court arrived at a starting point of 27 years’ imprisonment and deducted four years after considering mitigating factors, resulting in the final 23-year sentence.

Because Greaves was convicted after a trial, she received no reduction for a guilty plea. However, the judge ordered that the time she had already spent on remand be deducted from the sentence. She was also directed to participate in available educational and vocational programmes while incarcerated to assist with her rehabilitation and eventual reintegration into society.

Jason, who admitted the killing, received the slightly longer sentence of 24 years after pleading guilty. Her sentence was imposed separately on August 27.

The case brought to an end a criminal proceeding that began with the fatal stabbing in Sophia more than four years ago. At the time of the killing, Anderson was 22 and left behind three children, including an 11-month-old baby.

The sisters had initially been charged jointly and remanded following their court appearance in August 2022. After a Preliminary Inquiry, they were committed to stand trial at the Demerara Criminal Assizes on the capital charge of murder.