Eight years for woman, who pleads guilty to manslaughter, judge advises end to alcohol use

Georgetown: A judge advised a young woman before sentencing to stay away from alcohol for life as it appeared to play a part in the death of her best friend.

Twenty-year-old, Angelique Williams, who during a drunken brawl stabbed her pregnant best friend, Renita Thomas to death, was sentenced to eight years in jail after pleading guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Justice Navindra Singh handed down his sentence after the young woman broke down in tears and expressed remorse. She accepted responsibility for her friend’s death and offered apologies to her friend’s relatives and to members of her own family.

The Judge told Ms. Williams that while in prison, she should take advantage of the education system available to inmates and get herself educated. He also told her that she should stay away from alcohol for the rest of her life, since it appeared that it played a part in her actions that resulted in the death of someone she considered her best friend.

Attorney, Mark Waldron who represented the accused told the Court that his client came from a troubled past, with both of her parents dying while she was at a young age. He said she was sincere in her apology to the relatives and the court.

It was back in May 2015, while the two young ladies with other friends were hanging out at an event, that they became involved in an argument and Angelique Williams stabbed her best friend, Renita to the chest and stomach with a broken bottle.

At the time, eyewitnesses said she was drunk and her altercation with the best friend appeared to have been triggered by an argument over the best friend’s pregnancy with a second child.

The two had reportedly planned to get pregnant together and raise their children together, but that plan soon turned into jealousy, according to close friends, after the best friend got her first child, then became pregnant with a second child even as the accused tried to get pregnant.

The entire stabbing incident took place in front of other friends and the then one year old child of the best friend who died on the spot.