Accused in 2016 killing of Sophia woman admits to manslaughter

Photo: Stabroek News

Ranachal Singh, one of the two accused in the death of Sophia woman, Simone Hackett, whose lifeless body was pulled from a trench in 2016, is now awaiting his sentencing after pleading to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Singh, a 37-year-old taxi driver, and his co-accused Clevaughn Hamilton, also known as ‘Quarters,’ was hauled before High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon on Thursday morning.

The 37-year-old taxi driver was remanded to prison until September 26 for sentencing. Hamilton, who is Hackett’s child’s father professed his innocence, and a 12-member jury was empanelled.

Based on media reports, Hackett, a mother of one, left her ‘C’ Field Sophia home on April 16, 2016, to collect a package for her son’s birthday, which was the next day, but she never made it home back.

Three days later, the woman’s body was discovered in a decomposed state in a trench between Third and Fourth Streets, Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown.