The woman convicted of kidnapping Zephany Nurse from Groote Schuur Hospital is free.
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) confirmed that Lavona Solomon is being released on parole on Friday, following a decision by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board.
“The current period until the placement date will be utilised for the pre-release programmes. Thereafter Lavona Solomon will be admitted into the system of Community Corrections and serve the remainder of the sentence until its expiry in 2026,” DCS said.
“Generally, the decisions of the Parole Board are influenced by a number of factors, including the offender’s response to development and treatment programmes associated with rehabilitation, the existence of support systems in the community, the probability of re-offending and the risk the offender may post to the community or the complaint/victims.”
Lavona was sentenced to 10 years behind bars in 2016 for kidnapping three-day old baby Zephany in April 1997.
She raised the child as Miche Solomon.
Seventeen years later, the Nurse family found their daughter when sister Cassidy attended the same school as Miche and mense noticed the resemblance.
The sisters became friends and DNA tests later revealed that they are siblings.
Lavona was convicted of kidnapping, fraud and contravening the Children’s Act in 2016. She was in the seventh year of her 10-year sentence, served at the Worcester Female Prison.
When Daily Voice enquired about her parole conditions, DCS spokesperson, Candice van Reenen, said: “The Head of Community Corrections will only avail additional information, as per your questions, from (today) onwards.
“We can however confirm that the offender was eligible for parole in 2022 already but received a further profile.”
The Daily Voice reached out to dad Morne Nurse but he said that he was driving at the time.
He said he would return the call, but failed to do so by deadline and his phone was switched off.