Murder of Sherleytine Ernesta |19 July 2022

Lussel Labiche and Ashten Elisabeth plead ‘not guilty’

In the ongoing court case for the murder of Sherleytine Ernesta, the two accused – Lussel Labiche, 44 years old and Ashten Elisabeth, 18 years old, pleaded ‘not guilty’ before the Supreme Court yesterday.

The two accused have three charges brought against them: The first is conspiracy to commit the offense namely murder; secondly aiding and abetting a person to commit the offense of murder and thirdly murder.

Both accused pleaded not guilty to all three counts.

Chief Justice Rony Govinden set the trial dates for early next year 2023, from January 16 to February 24.

In the meantime the two accused will be remanded for another 14 days and to reappear before the court on August 1.

The body of 21-year-old Sherleytine Ernesta of Mont Plaisir was found in Bougainville on May 4, 2022, two days after she had been reported missing.

The first accused, Lussel Labiche, is represented by defense attorney Clifford Andre and Ashten Elisabeth by attorneys Vanessa Gill and Karine Dick while the prosecution is led by counsels Hemanth Kumar Muninadhan and Gulmette Leste.

Marla Simeon