Naomi Adams, one of five teens accused of killing retired professor Pariedeau Mars at his Prashad Nagar home, is now awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to a manslaughter charge.
Adams pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder on which she was initially indicted, but admitted guilt on the lesser count when she appeared before Justice Navindra Singh this afternoon. She accepted that on May 12th, 2016, she, in the company of others, unlawfully killed Mars during the course of a robbery.
Sentencing for the 18-year-old has, however, been deferred until June 24th, in order to facilitate the presentation of a probation report to the court.
Noting from the case file that Adams was only 15-years-old at the time the crime was committed, Justice Singh said he first wanted to hear a probation report before proceeding to impose a sentence.
The judge said he wants to hear from that report about the offender’s life prior to committing the offence and while incarcerated.
Presenting the facts of the case, Prosecutor Tuanna Hardy said that on the day in question, Adams and others had gone to Mars’ house, where she assisted in holding him down as the others in her company choked him.
Thereafter, the prosecutor said that the group of teens ransacked and robbed the man’s premises.
Hardy said police during their investigations found Adams with the dead man’s cellphone and she later confessed to being involved in his killing.
Mars had died as a result of asphyxiation.
Prior to accepting the young woman’s plea, Justice Singh asked Adams whether she was in any way being forced to plead and whether she knew that she was entitled to a trial if she so wished.
In response, she said that no one had forced her to plead and that she knew of her right to have a trial.
The teen also told the judge, when asked, that she had discussed her desire to plead with her attorney and she knew that she would have to be imprisoned for having committed the offence.
Adams is being represented by attorney Mark Conway.
The young woman’s case was heard at the High Court in Georgetown following the ceremonial opening of the June criminal session.
Police had said that Mars, 75, was found in his Prashad Nagar home with his hands and feet duct taped and injuries to his head. His house was ransacked and a number of articles and cash were stolen.
A female accused, known to have frequented Mars’ residence, had allegedly visited him and let the others into the house.
This newspaper had been told that the female suspect informed her boyfriend that she was going to Mars’ house and that he would be at home alone. The boyfriend allegedly told her that it was a good opportunity to rob Mars and he then contacted his friends and they met at a house in ‘C’ Field, Sophia, where they reportedly hatched the plan.
The female suspect was reportedly the first to enter the house and she allegedly assaulted Mars, injuring him about the body.
At this point, the other suspects, who were waiting outside the premises, entered and bound Mars. They then reportedly joined in continuously beating him, while they ransacked the house and carted off a quantity of items.
Mars was subsequently found by his wife on her return home from Linden. He was rushed to St Joseph Mercy Hospital, where he died while receiving medical attention.
Among the items recovered by the police were a sum of cash, a laptop computer, an iPhone and a video game console, the police had said in a statement.
