Six skollies are set to stand trial for the murder of a four-year-old Uitsig girl after their bid to be acquitted of murder charges failed at the Western Cape High Court on Monday.
Thea Lewis died in her mother’s arms on 18 April after being struck by a stray
bullet while playing with her two-year-old sister, Hope, in the yard of their Uitsig Avenue home.
She ran to her
mother and showed her the hole where the
bullet entered her tiny chest as she collapsed in the house.
Her death sparked an uproar in the Cape Flats community and two days later the alleged shooters, Bradon
September and Nigel
Prinsloo, were arrested after a manhunt and appeared in Goodwood
Magistrates’ Court.
According to the indictment, September and Prinsloo, are listed members of the Terrible Josters gang and were charged for murdering Thea.
But a month later four members of the same gang allegedly killed three people inside a hokkie two of whom were witnesses in Thea’s case.
Austin Botha, Shaun Field, Joseph William and Rodney April were charged for the murders of Abdul Kareem Oostendurp, Ricardo Williams and Rubyn Esau.
It is believed that Abdul and
Ricardo gave police
statements saying they could identify Thea’s killers.
After the State presented their case to the court, the judge dismissed the suspects’ application to be acquitted after hearing the evidence against them and the trial is set to continue on 21 October.