GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):
A schoolgirl is to stand trial for manslaughter in connection with the stabbing death of a woman over a year ago.
A magistrate ruled Friday that there was not sufficient evidence to support a charge of murder but that there was enough evidence for a manslaughter trial. The teenager was released on $75,000 bail.
Loud wails came from the teenager when the magistrate ruled and she realised that she could go home. Her family, clearly overjoyed that she was to be released on bail, hugged her.
It is alleged that on November 31, 2005, the teenager, who was then 15, stabbed Jacklyn Levius, killing her.
The teenager was asked to visit the office but refused and as a result Levius and others decided to go in search of her.
After an exchange of words between the two, the teenager allegedly grabbed Levius and stabbed her. The injured woman died a few hours later at the Georgetown Public Hospital.