Georgetown: Nineteen year-old Sherwin Roberts known as ‘Big Head’ was sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing of his 18-month-old niece Ronasha Pilgrim over a pair of gold earrings in 2017.
The decision was handed down Tuesday by Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the Demerara High Court.
Roberts, formerly of ‘B’ Field Sophia, opted to plead guilty to the capital offence, which occurred on September 1, 2017, at Lot 98 North Sophia, Georgetown.
Roberts was represented by Attorney-at-law Maxwell McKay while the State was represented by Prosecutor Sarah Martin.
The Judge said that the incident was a “cruel fashion of death”, noting that Roberts did not only threw his niece through the window but also buried her in the mud.
He will be eligible for parole after serving 20 years; Justice Barlow also ordered that Roberts is exposed to anger management and educational classes while in prison.
It is the State’s case that on the day in question, the toddler was at home with her two older brothers —ages 12 and 10 in their one-bedroom house, while their father worked the night shift as a security guard.
At around 03:00hrs, Roberts allegedly gained entry into the house by breaking a louvre window in the bedroom and attempted to relieve the toddler of her gold earrings. When the child began to scream, the man reportedly tossed her through a window into the swampy yard.
Before leaving, he placed a pile of wood on top of the shallow grave and buried the toddler alive. Her body was submerged in water and slush and was pulled from the three feet deep muddy grave approximately an hour after it was buried there.
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