Three men were sentenced to 11 and a half years’ imprisonment for the killing of electrical engineer Saleem Azeez Abdool, who was shot dead in his Prashad Nagar home in October 2014.
Glenroy Griffith called “Boyo,” 27, Jerald Ward called “Grey Patch,” 36, and Julian Mapp called “Yazey” 39, were today arraigned before High Court Judge Navindra Singh.
The trio was initially indicted for murder but opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. Thereby, admitting that on October 19, 2014, at Delhi Street, Prashad Nagar, Georgetown, they unlawfully killed Abdool.
Griffith and Mapp were represented by attorneys-at-law Ronald Daniels and Adrian Thompson, respectively. At the same time, Ward was represented by attorney-at-law Keoma Griffith.
Abdool, 23, of Lot 33 Delph Street and Columbia, Essequibo, died of multiple gunshot wounds to his head, which he sustained in the attack which occurred at approximately 4:30hrs on the day in question.
Police subsequently combed video footage of the attack from a property in the area, which led to the men’s arrest.
CCTV footage had shown that Abdool, who was initially held at gun-point in front of his residence, ran towards a Knight Rider Company bus parked nearby, only to be shot at in the shoulder.
He then slammed onto the parked vehicle, where he hid, until his assailants rode up to the vehicle, spotted him, and fired several shots at him. He ran a few steps away but collapsed.
Abdool’s father cried profoundly today as he noted that his son was the first person in the family to attend the University of Guyana.
The grieving father contends that he will never get to see his son marry and have children because his life was snatched away by bandits.
It is at that point that State Prosecutor Tyra Bakker urged the court to impose a sentence that would reflect the nature and gravity of the offence.
She said that the killing was not only premeditated and senseless.
Consequently, Justice Singh sentenced the men to time they spent in pretrial custody from 2014 be deducted.
