Four granted bail for $500,000 each after trying to kill their best friend with corrosive substance

Guyana: Four women who were remanded to prison back in January for allegedly dousing 24-year-old Renesha Maxwell with a corrosive substance on January 21, 2022, were granted bail by Principal Magistrate Sherdel Issacs-Marcus.

The quartet was each granted bail in the sum of $500,000. The accused included Jennifer Validen, a mother of three from Albouystown; Alana Holder, a 28-year-old mother of three from East La Penitence; Gailann Marks, a 21-year-old mother of two from West Ruimveldt; and Latifah DaCosta, a 26-year-old mother of one from Great Diamond, East Bank Demerara.

They appeared before City Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus, charged with attempted murder.

The quartet was not required to plead to the indictment, which had alleged that on January 21, 2022, at Princess Street, Georgetown, they caused grievous bodily harm to Maxwell with the intent to commit murder.

During their first court proceedings, the police prosecutor had objected to bail, noting to the court that the defendants and the victim were once friends. But on the day in question, he said the quartet attempted to attack Maxwell on Leopold Street but said, at the time, someone alerted Maxwell, which caused her to board a taxi to reach safety.

The prosecutor further indicated that the females followed the taxi and later blocked the taxi driver from moving. They then exited a motorcar with the substance and threw it on Maxwell, which caused her to receive burns all over her body.

Maxwell was, however, rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where she was seen and admitted with burns to her back and left hand.

In defense, the quartet of attorneys at law mitigated for reasonable bail, but the same was futile despite noting to the court that their clients were not flight risks and had been cooperating with the Guyana Police Force.

The prosecutor, in defense of the attorney's plea for bail, related that the offense is one of serious nature and reminded the court of the hefty penalty that follows such an offense. Apart from that, he had told the court that the victim was still hospitalized due to the severity of the burns. The Magistrate at the time upheld the prosecutor's plea and remanded the women to jail.