The Court of Appeal of Guyana will today commence hearing the appeal of a woman serving a sentence of 98 years for killing her two children, whom she had fed rat poison in 2014.
Hosfosuwa Amena Rutherford, 30, was found guilty of the offence of manslaughter in regard to the deaths of her two children — four-year-old Hodascia Cadogan and one-year -old Jabari Cadogan — by a jury in the High Court of Demerara following a trial before Justice Navindra Singh.
On the first count, for the killing of Hodascia Cadogan, Hosfosuwa Rutherford was sentenced to 45 years in jail; while on the second count, for the killing of Jabari Cadogan, she was sentenced to 53 years’ imprisonment. The prison terms were ordered to be served consecutively, meaning that her cumulative sentence is 98 years.
The Appellate Court will today commence hearing oral arguments in her appeal.
During the woman’s trial in 2018, the State had adduced evidence that this mother had given each of her children half of a tablet of aluminum phosphide (rat poison) on March 27, 2014 at Supply Branch Road, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, where they all resided.
Rutherford’s defence was that she had bought cold tablets at the Plaisance bus park in Georgetown from a man who sells rat poison, but the logic behind this story was not accepted by the jury. Rutherford had been hospitalised for seven days after the poisoning of her offspring, and she had said she had drunk two rat poison tablets after giving the same to her children.
“No one in this world loves my children more than I do. I love them to my soul. I am sorry for my shortcomings and my faults,” the convicted children killer had stated at her sentencing hearing. She had then turned her attention to Justice Singh, whom she begged to have mercy on her.
“Justice Singh, even God in Heaven above is merciful, and I am asking you to grant me a second chance, so I can make things right,” a crying Rutherford had pleaded.
Justice Singh had, however, seemed perplexed as to why the State had indicted this mother for the lesser offence of manslaughter. He had contended that “everything points to murder”.
