–as court hears of second murder conviction

A HIGH Court judge has sentenced a convicted man to 20 years and 10 months to run consecutively. The judge also ordered prison authorities to deduct the time he has already spent in custody and ensure that he completes an alcohol rehabilitation programme before the end of his sentence.
That was the ruling delivered by Justice Priscilla Chandra-Hanif at the Essequibo High Court. It came after the manslaughter conviction of 32-year-old Joshua Connell, also known as “Black Boy,” for the killing of 28-year-old Venezuelan national, Dimas Emilia Lezama Fermin, at a mining camp in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
Connell had pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter after originally being charged with murder, contrary to common law. The killing occurred between October 3 and 4, 2020, at Big Hope Backdam, Bartica, along the Cuyuni River.
Fermin, a Venezuelan, was employed as a cook at the Big Hope Backdam mining camp, where she lived and worked alongside several miners and camp workers, including Connell. She was last seen alive on the evening of Saturday, October 3, 2020.
Her body was discovered the following morning, floating face-down in a pond behind her living quarters. At the time, she was partially unclothed, wearing a blue jersey and naked from the waist down.
Witnesses placed her at the camp on the night in question and confirmed the discovery of her body. Police ranks observed visible bruises and bluish discolouration to her neck, vagina and buttocks.
During a caution interview conducted on October 4, 2020, by Police Constable Jamal James, in the presence of Corporal Kevin Morgan, Connell admitted to having sex with Fermin and choking her after she resisted.
He told investigators that he had been drinking alcohol, restrained her, tore her clothing, forced her onto a bed and later strangled her when she began making noise. He confessed that after realising she was no longer breathing, he placed her body near a window before carrying it to a pond behind the camp and then returned to drink more rum.
He maintained that he did not intend to kill her. A post-mortem examination conducted by Dr Nehaul Singh concluded that Fermin died from asphyxiation due to compression injuries to the neck, compounded by multiple blunt trauma, findings consistent with strangulation.
In sentencing Connell, the court also took into account a probation report which outlined his background and personal circumstances. Connell was born on September 18, 1993, at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation to Seon and Carol Connell.

He was raised primarily by his mother after his parents separated when he was about three years old and grew up in an extended family environment at Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
Financial hardship following his father’s abandonment reportedly affected his education, leading him to leave school at Second Form to seek employment.
Family members, neighbours and community residents described him as jovial, caring, hardworking and non-violent, with a strong interest in sports and church activities. Prior to the offence, he worked in masonry, carpentry, farming, cooking and mining in the interior.
The report noted that he had no previous criminal record at the time of the 2020 offence and was generally well-behaved while incarcerated, although he admitted to being placed in solitary confinement for several days following a prison altercation in 2022.
Connell expressed remorse for the death, apologising to the victim’s family and acknowledging that his actions were wrong. He pleaded with the court for leniency, asking for a reduced sentence.
“I am very sorry for the life that was lost. What happened was not right, and I apologise to the family who lost their loved one. I am asking the court to have some mercy and give me a lighter sentence,” he said.
However, the prosecutors also disclosed that Connell is already serving a separate 35-year prison sentence for another killing committed in May 2022. Investigators said he killed Rosella Smith, a 28-year-old businesswoman, following an allegation that she had stolen his raw gold.
Smith’s body was found in a pit at Three Miles in Karrau Backdam, Region Seven. An autopsy revealed that she died from asphyxiation due to drowning, compounded by compression injuries to the neck.
Prosecutors, attorneys Caressa Henry and Rodley Mathoo, highlighted as aggravating factors the brutal and deliberate strangulation of a vulnerable foreign woman in a remote mining area, the abuse of trust between co-workers, and the prevalence of violence against women in backdam communities.
They also pointed to Connell’s status as a repeat offender already serving a lengthy sentence for murder, along with his lack of genuine remorse, shown by his attempts to minimise responsibility and dispose of the victim’s body.
The defence, led by attorney L. N. Dindayal, cited the offender’s age, his remorse, previously good character, and cooperation with the police as mitigating factors.
In handing down her decision, Justice Chandra-Hanif underscored the seriousness of violent crime and the need for accountability, while balancing the mitigating considerations raised by the defence against the aggravating factors presented by the prosecution.
In determining a starting sentence of 25 years, the judge considered the nature of the offence, including the level of planning, the concealment of the body, and the aggravating factors presented by the state.
Departing from the usual one-third reduction for an early guilty plea, Justice Chandra-Hanif granted the convict only a one-sixth reduction, amounting to four years and two months, and she made no deductions for mitigating factors.
The judge noted that during a short span in 2020, Connell had murdered two young women under completely unrelated circumstances, describing this as very alarming.
She emphasised that some people believe they can commit crimes in remote areas without consequences and stressed the need to send a clear message that society condemns all forms of killing.
She noted that he was fortunate not to receive additional years for aggravating factors. In the end, Justice Chandra-Hanif ordered that the 20 years and 10 months imposed for the manslaughter conviction run consecutively to his existing sentence, further extending the time Connell will spend behind bars.