Justice Navindra Singh on Tuesday imposed a sentence of 20 years, on the mother of eight year-old Emmanuel King, who died at the hands of the said woman that was expected to protect him.
In a heartless act, Sonia King placed a bed sheet over her son’s head and strangled him to death while he was asleep. The mother formerly of Lot 565 Parfait Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD), confessed to the lesser count of manslaughter at her first court appearance. During this matter, the convicted woman was represented by Attorney Mark Conway, while the state’s case was presented by prosecutor’s Teriq Mohammed, Tuanna Hardy, and Sarah Martin.
King was slapped with the charge that detailed hat on February 21, 2016, in the county of Demerara, she killed Emmanuel King.
After a probation report was presented in court, Attorney Conway in an effort to provide mitigating factors on behalf of his client, informed the court that King been involved in hairdressing at the prison. He further stated that she expresses deep regrets for her actions.
Meanwhile, prosecutor Hardy told the court that King’s actions had caused much distraught to the child’s father and other family members, and thus the sentence should reflect that such senseless behaviors are not tolerated in society. Hardy further highlighted that now dead child was very brave as he represented his country at a singing competition in another Caribbean country.
When asked why she committed the crime, King responded to Justice Singh saying, “It’s hurting me, I don’t really know what came over me at that moment”. Nevertheless, Justice Singh pointed out that there is no excuse for her actions since this was her child.
As Justice Singh handed down the 20 years’ sentence, the younger King’s father, broke down in tears witnessing the woman he once shared a relationship with, facing the consequences for her actions.
The prison authorities were ordered to deduct the years spent on remand from the given sentence.
Reports are that King initially claimed that the child fell from a guava tree during the afternoon of February 21 after which he retired to bed. At about 22:00h, the mother had claimed that she went to check on the child but found him in a motionless state.
He was taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. However, she later confessed that she killed the child due to frustration, saying that she took a bed sheet and choked the child to death while he was sleeping.
After the incident, King reportedly confessed to her husband to killing the child. She was arrested after confessing to investigators.
