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March 24, 2026
Thirty-six-year-old Osafi Johnson has been sentenced to 32 years’ imprisonment for the 2021 murder of Nico Layne, known as “Daddy.”
The sentence was on Monday handed down by acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh at the Demerara High Court. Time spent on remand will be deducted.
In arriving at the sentence, the court started at 36 years and deducted 12 years for Johnson’s guilty plea. A further two years were deducted for mildly favourable reports. However, four years were added for the impact on the victim’s family and six years for the cruelty of the act, bringing the total to 32 years.
The prosecution was led by Christopher Belfield, assisted by Geneva Wills.
According to the agreed facts, on March 28, 2021, at about 01:15 hrs, Layne, who was riding a bicycle, parked it near a snackette and joined a group of persons playing cards at the junction of High and Hadfield Streets, on the northern side of Silvie’s General Store.
About 30 minutes later, Layne began inquiring about his bicycle, which had gone missing. He subsequently left the area, walking north along High Street towards Brickdam.
Roughly an hour and a half later, between 03:10 hrs and 04:05 hrs, Layne was seen running back towards the group from Hadfield Street, being pursued by two men, including Johnson, who was armed with a long knife, and another man identified as Tafari, who was armed with a cutlass.
A woman, Natasha Tait, also armed with a cutlass, was with them.
Layne, who appeared injured, asked the group for a knife before continuing to flee. He ran south along High Street, turned east onto Leopold Street, and collapsed.
Johnson and his accomplice caught up with him and inflicted several injuries. Layne was later seen lying on the ground while the attackers stood over him before walking away and attempting to stop a passing vehicle.
They then fled the area but were subsequently apprehended by police on Lyng Street, Charlestown, and taken to the Brickdam Police Station.
Layne was transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His body was later moved to the mortuary pending a post-mortem examination.
Johnson’s co-accused is expected to be sentenced at a later date.
