An Ikeja High Court has sentenced a 36-year-old woman, Stella Gilbert, to death for stabbing her neighbour, Stella Godwin, to death during a fight at their residence in Ajegunle, Lagos.
The two had fought over who would have claim on a bench left by a former tenant.
Justice Raliatu Adebiyi said on Tuesday while delivering judgement that the prosecution was able to prove its case.
“The defendant in this case used a knife on the deceased; by any standard, a knife is a lethal weapon.
“The chest is where the heart is. The defendant, by stabbing the deceased on the chest, a very fragile part of the body, clearly intended to cause the most harm to her,” the judge said.
Defence counsel, Y. E. Yusuf, prayed the court to show mercy to his client whom he claimed had lost both parents while she was in detention.
“The defendant has been in detention for six years; during that time, she lost both parents and her brother. She is in her late 30s and unmarried, she has gone through a lot,” he said.
However, on hearing the judgement, the convict broke down in tears and was carried out of the courtroom by a police officer and prison warder.
