Buxton man who confessed to killing female cook in interior gets 12 years

Jun 05, 2025 News

Kaieteur News – Keron Hope, also known as “Blacka,” of Lot 5 Middle Street, Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD), was sentenced to 12 years in prison for killing a woman in June 2022.

Hope had confessed to strangling the victim, Mariam Edwards, called “Mary” at Kumung Kumung, Puruni River, Region Seven.

According to reports, miners at Kumung Kumung Backdam had captured Hope after they realised Edwards was missing and her camp and ransacked. He was tied up and later handed over to police when ranks arrived to conduct an investigation.

He had reportedly confessed to killing her during a robbery. The suspect then led police to where he had dumped her remains. According to police, her body was located just a short distance away from her camp. The killing occurred between June 8 and 9, 2022, at Kumung Kumung, Puruni River, Region Seven, where both Hope and Edwards were working in the gold mining industry

An autopsy later revealed that she was strangled and struck to the head with a heavy object. Hope was initially indicted for the murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He was therefore sentenced to 12 years behind bars by Justice Navindra Singh at the High Court in Essequibo on Monday.

He was represented by Defence Attorney Latchmi Dindayal. The prosecution, led by State Counsel Caressa Henry, noted that after inflicting injuries on the deceased, Hope had tried to conceal his actions by removing the deceased’s body from the camp and hiding it at the “tail-end”.

Prosecutor Henry noted that Hope then left the area without rendering any assistance to the deceased. “As if that was not vile enough, the accused then joined a search party looking for the deceased as if she were missing, while being fully aware that he had left her motionless body at the tail end. It was only until he was beaten by persons in the community to say what happened with the deceased, since he was the last person whose company the deceased was seen, then he related where she was,” she said.

In this regard, the State Prosecutor asked the Court to impose a sentence that reflects the weight and gravity of the crime committed, and the prevalence and manner in which the senseless nature of the offence was committed. She noted that the court owes a duty not only to the victim but indeed to society to impose such punishment as would reflect its utter abhorrence of the deed and which at the same time would serve as a deterrent to other would-be perpetrators of this type of crime.

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12 years in prison, Keron Hope, killing female cook, Mariam Edwards, robbery

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Buxton man who confessed to killing female cook in interior gets 12 years

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