Mom gets 3 years for killing child
published: Saturday | January 25, 2003
John Myers, Jr., Freelance Writer
CLARENDON: A 35-YEAR-OLD woman, who used a knife to kill her nine-year-old daughter was sentenced to three years in prison in the Clarendon Circuit Court on Thursday.
Maxine Samuels, a domestic helper of Salt River, Clarendon, was convicted on the lesser charge of manslaughter after she pleaded guilty during her trial in the circuit court.
According to court reports, on March 28, 2002 at about 9:30 a.m. the accused was at home, when two of her children got into a fight. In an attempt to quell the fight, Mrs. Samuels reportedly flung a knife at her daughter, Chantel Samuels. The knife lodged in the chest of the child and she was rushed to the Lionel Town Hospital, where she later died.
Subsequently, Mrs. Samuels was arrested and charged for the death of her daughter, by detective corporal Charmaine Baker of the Lionel Town police.
In handing down her judgment, Justice Carol Beswick noted that she has taken into consideration the fact that the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and has already spent two months in jail. However, the judge made mention of what she said is the increased incidents of children falling victims to violence and was, therefore, imposing a prison sentence.
