A 27-year-old South African man, Lelethu Nkosana, has been sentenced to two life terms after admitting to the r#pe and murd#r of 8-year-old Veronique May.
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Nkosana entered into a plea agreement in which he admitted to the offences and accepted responsibility for the killing.
During the proceedings, Nkosana admitted that he knew Veronique and had seen her playing with other children.
According to the plea agreement, he offered to give her money if she accompanied him to a room belonging to one of his relatives.
After they arrived, Nkosana said he discovered that the room was locked and intended to break the door open to gain entry.
He then admitted to undressing Veronique and s#xually assaulting her without her consent.
According to his admission, he later became overwhelmed by fear and shock and strangled Veronique until she became unresponsive and died.
He acknowledged that he knew strangling her could result in death but continued with the act.
Evidence presented during the case included DNA recovered from Veronique during her medical examination and from her clothing. Investigators also recovered fingerprints linking Nkosana to the scene.
The plea agreement recorded that Nkosana had no previous convictions. He was unmarried and had a four-year-old daughter who lives with her mother.
He had completed Grade 10 and earned money through odd jobs while contributing towards his daughter’s maintenance. He also sold raw meat for a neighbour.
Although the court was told that Nkosana acknowledged the seriousness of his actions and expressed remorse, the circumstances of the crime were considered too serious for his personal circumstances to outweigh the interests of society.
Nkosana accepted that there were no substantial and compelling circumstances that would justify reducing the prescribed minimum sentences.
The State and his legal representative, Mxolisi Moolman, agreed to a sentence of three years for housebreaking with intent to rape and murder, alongside life imprisonment for rape and life imprisonment for murder.
The agreement also stated that after entering into the plea agreement under Section 105A of the Criminal Procedure Act, Nkosana could not appeal the conviction or sentence imposed under the agreement.
Speaking to journalists, investigating officer Warrant Officer Mbulelo Grootboom, attached to the Family Violence, Child Protection and S#xual Offences (FCS) unit, said he was satisfied with the conviction following the investigation conducted by his team.
Grootboom said the State had strong evidence that could have resulted in a conviction even if Nkosana had not pleaded guilty.
He particularly credited the forensic team for helping investigators build the case.