The man accused of murdering Beacon Valley drummer boy Chad Arendse has been acquitted due to a lack of evidence.
This was revealed on Wednesday as Charlton Dyers appeared in the Mitchells Plain Regional Court, where he faced a charge of murder for the 19-year-old who was shot dead in 2019.
The shooting took place while Chad was attending a friend’s 21st birthday party in Rocklands.
Chad was the drum major for the Littlewood Primary Drill Squad and the Western Province Marching Squad. He was also a member of the Pennsylvanians minstrels.
In 2019, investigating officer, Detective Sergeant J. Phillips, told the court that the suspect contacted him first after the fatal shooting to complain about the allegations against him.
“This killing to me was senseless. There is no known motive, except a previous incident between the victim and the suspect that has yet to get on record,” the cop stated.
“The person who killed Chad must have wanted to murder him; he stood over him and fired the 14 shots.
“About eight hit his face, neck and body, while the others missed.
“Three witnesses identify the suspect as Chad’s killer.”
But on Wednesday, Dyers was acquitted due to a lack of evidence.
According to Court Watch Brief member Linda Jones, the State only had two witnesses, and one of them had to be subpoenaed. She said this witness also had a different version of events.
Dyers had been out on R2 000 bail and had pleaded not guilty to Chad’s murder.
In 2021, his legal team also brought a Section 174 application before the court, calling for the charges against him to be dropped as the State did not have enough evidence to prove its case.
Chad’s mother Natasha Arendse took to Facebook to express her disappointment in the justice system.
“Today we lost our fight for justice for u, my son. I’m so sorry this happened to u and that I couldn't protect u. I'm in so much pain right now the people u called ur friends were clearly not ur friends ... I'm sorry [sic],” Natasha wrote.
When the Daily Voice reached out to Natasha on Thursday, she was too devastated to speak.
Jones urges the authorities to do their jobs.
“I want to make it very clear that we need to get most of our investigators trained. Many feel if an arrest was made, it is done and dusted. We are saying investigate first and then arrest,” she said.
DISAPPOINTED: Ma Natasha Arendse