A GANG hitman accused of murdering Parkwood laaitie Nahemia Claasen has openly confessed to opening fire on the day the little boy was struck.
Nearly four years after the horrific shooting in Parker’s Walk, Christopher Kemp has finally gone on trial at the Western Cape High Court.
Nahemia was shot just metres from his home on 7 September 2020 amid a bloody gang war between the Mongrels and the Six Bobs gangs.
His death sparked an outcry as Grassy Park cops went on the hunt for Kemp, an alleged member of the Mongrels gang.
During the investigation, it was revealed that Kemp had been shot a few days earlier by the Six Bobs gang and returned to Parker’s Walk to seek revenge.
Kemp missed his target and Nahemia was struck.
He was rushed to Red Cross Hospital where he was later declared brain dead and died.
During the trial which is being heard at the Wynberg Circuit Court, Kemp pleaded not guilty to all the charges and took the stand in his own defence.
He brazenly told the judge that he fired four skote at a gang rival known as “Ghost” and contested the evidence of State witnesses who said Nahemia was standing nearby and was instead struck.
Kemp declared: “There were no children in the street.”
Aunties from Parkwood packed out the public gallery to show their support for Nahemia’s grieving mother.
Among the crowd was the mother of slain seven-year-old Ezra Daniels who says Nahemia’s murder reminded her of her son’s.
Mom Desiree tells the Daily Voice: “They both died in the same way in the same area. And when Nahemia was shot, everything came back to me.
“I came to day to show the court we want justice for Nahemia and to support his family.”
A week later, hundreds of mense lined up outside his home to say their final farewells as they grieved the loss of yet another child in the Cape Flats community.