Lawyer for 15-Year-Old Schoolgirl Involved in Fire at Guyanese Secondary School Wants Murder Charges Withdrawn

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The lawyer representing a 15-year-old student charged with several counts of murder arising from the deadly May 22 fire that killed 19 students at a dormitory at the Mahdia Secondary School, 100 miles south-west of the capital, is calling for the charges to be withdrawn.

In a letter to the Director Public Prosecution (DPP), attorney Dr. Dexter Todd said that based on the disclosures made at the Mahdia Magistrate’s Court during the hearings, it is clear that there is no potential evidence to support the charges against the teenager.

“Upon review of all the statements and other exhibits served on our clients, our suspicions in this matter were confirmed…there is absolutely no potential evidence that could support a charge of murder, much less secure a conviction against our client,” Todd wrote in his letter.

The attorney said given that the evidence before the court, he is urging the DPP to review the file, and have the charges withdrawn, warning that failure to do that would result in civil action against the state.

“Please note that should this charge not be withdrawn against our client and it goes the full length, we will be forced to institute civil and constitutional proceedings against the Office of the DPP and the State, seeking certain order, declaration and substantial damages.”

The 15-year-old schoolgirl, who is being held at the Juvenile Holding Centre, is accused of setting fire to the dormitory resulting in the deaths of 19 fellow students between the ages of 12 to 17 and a five-year-old boy. She was not required to enter a plea.

Full disclosure in the matter was completed on July 20,  and Todd said the evidence before the court is circumstantial and very weak, and does not meet the requirements for murder charges.

He said some of the witnesses in the matter have claimed that his client was upset with the caretaker of the dorm for taking away her cell phone, and threatened to burn the place down.

However, the attorney said beside the words of a teenager, there is nothing else linking his client to the deadly blaze and that one of the witnesses told the court that the accused after allegedly issuing the threat said it was a joke.

“We certainly cannot get into the mind of our client to know what she meant nor if it was a joke and neither can the court,” he said, telling the DPP none of the witnesses placed the accused in the area where the fire started.

“None of them stated that they saw her light the fire, none of them stated that she accepted responsibility for the fire, none of them said they saw her walking or running from the area where the fire allegedly started prior to the great blaze. There is no forensic evidence in any form that incriminates our client,” he said.

He said the court only has claims by some witnesses that the accused had threatened to burn the dorm down, and that she had collected a lighter and a perfume from two students.

“The only thing before us is an alleged statement by the accused, a statement that could have been capitalized on by any person who heard it. Note that some witnesses also confirmed that other students from the dorm were engaged in smoking marijuana that very day,” Todd told the DPP.

On Monday, President Irfaan Ali told reporters that members of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the tragic fire should be sworn in before the end of this week.

“I’m intending to name the complete complement of the COI numbers before the end of this week and have them sworn in before the end of this week,” he told reporters.

Ali had in June announced the appointment of retired Major General Joseph Singh to head the inquiry.