The mother and aunt of convicted murderer Nicholas Rampersad told the judge who is expected to sentence him on Monday that as a child he was a jolly, helpful and a nice boy.
Rampersad was seven days shy of his 15th birthday when he stabbed the 17-year-old mother of one Navisha Crystal Bedaysee 15 times.
Rampersad, now 26, who has been incarcerated for more than 11 years awaiting trial was found guilty of murder by Justice Gillian Lucky on December 23, 2019, following a judge-alone trial. Rampersad claimed he was innocent and that another man had stabbed her. Bedaysee was stabbed at the Marabella home of Rampersad’s mother on June 27, 2008. She was living there with her two-year-old daughter.
Justice Lucky was expected to sentence Rampersad yesterday, but his attorney Rekha Ramjit requested a short adjournment to address the judge on a legal issue. In her plea in mitigation, however, Ramjit said Rampersad availed himself to programmes available to him in prison and has been described as an exemplary prisoner. She suggested that an appropriate starting point for sentencing was between 15 to 18 years.
Based on a request from the judge to hear from Rampersad’s family, his brother, mother and aunt addressed the court. Describing him as a very nice, kind and willing child, Rampersad’s mother Sookrani Rampersad, 51, said, “He was just perfect.”
She told the judge that he will live with her and return to school or learn a trade when he is released from prison.
His aunt Marilyn James, 62, recalled that he would often spend time by her and was never involved in any violent acts, except for one incident in which he stabbed his cousin who was taking advantage of him. James said he used to help her in her sewing business and she intends to hand over her business to him.
In his submissions, State attorney Trevor Jones said Bedaysee’s murder was an act of extreme violence in a time of increasing prevalence of young offenders. He said it was often the cry of offenders’ relatives, whether or not they commit the crime, that they were good boys.
Jones said ten months before the fatal stabbing, Rampersad also stabbed his cousin and was put on a bond. Also noting that Bedaysee’s daughter was in the house at the time of the stabbing, Jones suggested a starting point of 25 years.
Rampersad told the judge that he wants to pursue CSEC subjects and a tailoring course while in prison.
There was no evidence of the motive and circumstances surrounding the incident.
The state’s evidence was that on the night of the murder Bedaysee, her baby and Rampersad were alone home. Around 8.30 pm, Bedaysee ran out of the house and collapsed. A crowd had gathered around her and she was asked who stabbed her. She said it was Nicholas, but there were two people named Nicholas living in the area. When she was asked if it was Maureen’s Nicholas who had stabbed her, Bedaysee shook her head in the affirmative.
The judge will sentence Rampersad on Monday at the Hall of Justice, Port-of-Spain.
