BASSE TERRE, Guadeloupe:--- The Cour d'Assises (High Court) condemned Rogely Dewindt to 20 years for the premeditated murder of Nejumbia Fleming and her 15 months old baby Ronelyia Fleming. The decision was handed down Tuesday night. Throughout the trial, Dewindt pleaded not guilty claiming she had nothing to do with the killings.
Nejumbia Fleming and her baby daughter were murdered during the night of October 29th and 30th 2008. Relatives of the deceased waited patiently for justice which finally came down for the only suspect that was in custody in Basse Terre. Rogely Dewindt was having an affair with the father of Ronelyia Fleming at the time of the murders.
The crime committed by Dewindt and her accomplice was one of the most gruesome murders in the history of St. Martin. The mother and baby were killed and then burnt by their attackers inside their home located in St. James, Marigot.
Police on the Dutch side of the island arrested the victim's boyfriend who is also the baby's father and Dewindt the day the crime was committed but somehow the male suspect contested his extradition to the French side. Dewindt on the other hand agreed to go with the Gendarmes when she was arrested. On the day of the murders, Rogely Dewindt was seen in a store in Philipsburg with burns on her face and hands. The store attendants alerted police when they saw the young woman buying make up and going to the bathroom to cover up the burns she sustained.
The parents and grandparents felt that the real culprit behind the gruesome killing was the father of the baby while Dewindt wanted to get rid of Nejumbia Fleming and her baby daughter as she considered them to be her rival.
One of the main reasons the family of Nejumbia felt that the baby's father was involved is because there was no forced entry to the apartment where the two victims were found and at the time of the murders he was the only one that had a key to the apartment since he was living with his girlfriend and his baby daughter. The young man in question is from the island of Statia and has since married.
The court found that Dewindt was guilty of the gruesome murders but they also felt she did not do it alone.
