By Ivan Pereira
The Rosedale man who initially asked the public to help find the person responsible for kidnapping and killing the mother of his child admitted that he committed the deed himself, the Nassau County district attorney’s office said.
Marvon Jemmott, 37, of Rosedale will receive a prison sentence of 20 years in exchange for his guilty plea on second-degree murder in the death of Jamaica Smith, Nassau DA Kathleen Rice said. Smith, 36, also of Rosedale, and Jemmott were fighting over child-care payment for their 6-year-old daughter and he strangled her to death and buried her body in Long Island, according to the DA.
“This cold-blooded killer decided that murdering his child’s mother was a better idea than paying her the money he owed, and that heartless decision will cost him decades in a prison cell,” Rice said in a statement.
Smith, who had moved to Rosedale shortly before her murder after spending time in Tennessee, was reported missing by her family the day before Thanksgiving in 2009 after she dropped her child off at PS 156 in Laurelton.
Her relatives reached out to the police, elected officials and others to help with the search. Jemmott also reached out for help at one point appearing on a TV news broadcast in a teary-eyed plea for anyone to come forward with information on the whereabouts of his estranged girlfriend.
Investigators said that request was a ruse and he was covering up his real role in her disappearance.
After Smith’s body was found in an empty lot in Uniondale, detectives quickly questioned Jemmott. He incriminated himself in his ex-wife’s death during the interrogation, police said.
Smith’s family could not be reached for comment. Sentencing has been scheduled for April 27, DA Rice said.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
