Thirty-three-year-old Tiffene Greaves was yesterday sentenced to 23 years in prison for her role in the murder of 20-year-old Vanessa Anderson, who was fatally stabbed in August 2022.
Greaves was found guilty of murder by a jury following a trial before Justice Deborah Kumar-Chetty. She was indicted alongside her sister, Jamacy Jason, in connection with Anderson’s death on August 8, 2022.
During a sentencing hearing, the court considered a probation report, prison conduct report, pre-sentence material, victim impact statements and a plea in mitigation. Greaves also addressed the court directly, expressing remorse and asking for mercy.
“I’m very sorry for what happened. It wasn’t meant to happen like that,” she told the court, while apologising to Anderson’s family and stating that she did not intend for Anderson to die.
The court found that Greaves was a secondary participant in the joint enterprise. While she was convicted of murder, the fatal stab wounds were inflicted by her sister.
According to the facts considered by the court, Anderson was returning from a nearby shop while Greaves and her sister were near the bridge leading to their homes. The court found that Greaves handed a knife to her sister, who used it to stab Anderson in the back.
Anderson was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. A post-mortem examination found stab wounds, including injuries that penetrated the aorta and lung.
The court said several aggravating factors were present, including the use of a dangerous weapon, the seriousness of the injuries, Greaves’ familiarity with Anderson as a neighbour, and her active participation in the attack.
The court also gave significant weight to the impact of Anderson’s death on her family. Anderson was the mother of three young children, who were six years old, three years old and 11 months old when she died.
The victim impact statements described the profound effect of her death on the family, including the youngest child being left without the opportunity to experience his mother’s care and guidance.
However, the court also identified mitigating circumstances. Justice Kumar-Chetty noted that Greaves did not personally inflict the fatal stab wounds and therefore had a lesser degree of culpability than the principal offender.
Greaves had no previous convictions and the court noted her remorse, despite her maintaining her innocence following the jury’s guilty verdict.
Her probation report was also described as favourable. The report indicated that she had discontinued her secondary education while in fourth form but later completed vocational training and obtained certificates in plumbing and craft. During her incarceration, she also completed programmes in anger management, yoga and meditation.
The court initially arrived at a starting point of 27 years’ imprisonment. Following consideration of the mitigating factors relating to Greaves as an offender, four years were deducted, bringing the sentence to 23 years.
No deduction was made for a guilty plea, since Greaves was convicted by a jury. However, the court ordered that the time she spent on remand be deducted from the sentence.
In handing down the sentence, the judge reminded Greaves that her actions had not only resulted in Anderson’s death but had also profoundly affected both families.
The court further ordered that Greaves be enrolled in available educational and vocational programmes while serving her sentence to assist with her eventual reintegration into society.
Her co-accused and sister, Jamacy Jason, was sentenced to 24 years’ imprisonment after taking a plea,
The state’s case was presented by Prosecutor Joy Williams.
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