THIRTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD Sonya King, who was recently sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for killing her eight-year-old son Emmanuel King, has filed an appeal to challenge the severity of her sentence.

The sentence was imposed by Justice Navindra Singh at the Demerara High Court after she pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. King had confessed to killing her son Emmanuel on Sunday, February 21, 2016 at the family’s home at La Parfaite Harmonie, Onderneeming, West Bank Demerara.

King’s attorney Mark Conway filed the appeal on the grounds that Justice Singh failed and/or neglected to consider the appellant’s mental state when she committed the crime. The attorney is also contending that, given the circumstances, the sentence was severe.

According to reports, the child lived with his mother and step-father, Robert at Parfaite Harmonie, Onderneeming, West Bank Demerara. It is alleged that King and Emmanuel were in bed at their home when the woman placed a bed sheet over the child’s face and suffocated him.

The woman had confessed to the police and said, “Ah just hold him down, meh son was kicking up with his foot. Ah hold down the sheet there until he stop moving and then I go and call Robert and tell he I kill Emmanuel.”

According to results from the post-mortem, Emmanuel died as a result of suffocation.
The Guyana Chronicle had reported that when King was arrested in 2017, she told the police that her son succumbed after falling from a tree earlier that day. She however, later gave a formal statement to investigators at Den Amstel Police Station reportedly confessing to suffocating the child.