The denials of murder-accused Leeroy Rose have started to unravel at the Western Cape High Court as he took the stand in his own defence in the ongoing murder trial of slain Heinz Park teen Janika Mello on Tuesday.
Rose, who is the main accused, has denied raping and murdering Janika and instead claims he witnessed his co-accused Allester Abrahams throw a stone in her face on the night she was murdered.
Janika, who was a Grade 6 pupil at Northwood Primary School in Woodlands, went to a karaoke at Portlands High School to support a local soccer club on 31 August in 2019.
The teen was later dropped off by a taxi and her half-naked body was found in her backyard the following morning.
Used condoms littered the crime scene and the left side of her face was smashed in with a concrete block.
In his testimony, Rose claimed that he was a “huiskind” at Janika’s home and considered her a sister.
However, during cross-examination he confessed that he had asked her for sex several times, but the 14-year-old always told him to “wait until she was ready”.
He claimed while at the karaoke he again asked Janika and she told him she would consider it. He claimed she later agreed and said during the night they had sex twice.
Graphic details came to light when State prosecutor, Advocate Bonginkosi Maki, asked Rose to specify how he had penetrated the teen.
While Rose claimed they had vaginal sex, Maki cornered him with medical evidence showing that despite the injuries to her vagina and anus, the pathologist found her hymen to be intact when examining her body.
Maki said: “I put it to you that those injuries were caused by someone who had tried to penetrate her, but wasn’t successful.”
An adamant Rose insisted: “I did have sex with her”.
Maki said it was strange that Rose later appeared min gespin when he heard that Janika was violently assaulted by Abrahams that same night.
Maki continued: “So you just had sex with the deceased who you say is like a sister to you and you say you heard she was assaulted but you want the court to believe that you never even asked her about the assault?”
Rose, who appeared to get aggressive, responded: “Yes, I never asked her.”
He also denied being tjommies with Abrahams, saying they only played soccer together.
However, he told the court that on the night of the murder, he knew Allester had taken Janika to the yard of her ouma’s home to have sex. He claimed when he went to check on them, he found Abrahams had already thrown a stone on Janika’s head and as he tried to stop him from doing it a second time her blood spattered on his clothing.
Rose told the court he was dronk and ran home: “I was drunk. I got a skrik, I had never seen anything like that. So I went home to sleep.”
The trial continues.