Cape Town - The State has called on the Western Cape High Court to hand down the maximum sentence to the two men accused of raping and bludgeoning Heinz Park teen Janika Mello to death.
Legal teams went head-to-head yesterday as they argued for sentences for convicted killers Leeroy Rose and Allester Abraham.
Janika, 14, who was a Grade 6 learner at Northwood Primary School in Woodlands, went to a karaoke at Portlands High School to support a local soccer club on August 31, 2019.
The teen was later dropped off by a taxi close to her home. Her half-naked body was found in her backyard the following morning.
According to crime scene photographs, police found multiple used condoms on the scene while the post-mortem report showed she had multiple vaginal and anal injuries.
During the trial, Rose turned on his co-accused and claimed he saw Abraham throw a rock on Mello’s head.
The pair were subsequently both found guilty on two charges of rape and one of murder.
During arguments yesterday, State advocate Bonginkosi Maki argued that Rose should be sentenced to 25 years’ while Abraham should receive life sentences for his crimes.
He argued that Rose should only be given limited mercy, as he was 16 at the time, while Abraham was an adult.
Maki accused Rose of violating the trust of Mello’s family who considered him a child, but said this did not deter him from murdering the teen in her own backyard.
“They showed no remorse throughout the trial and they could have saved the mother and the grandmother the secondary trauma of testifying about how they found the deceased’s body.”
Rose’s lawyer, advocate Herrington Bonya, called on Judge Pearl Andrews to deviate from the 25 years and to consider he be sentenced as a juvenile.
Abraham’s lawyer, advocate Luyanda Gebegane, stuck to his version that the only reason his client was found guilty was because he was allegedly falsely implicated by Rose.
The case was postponed to June 21 for sentencing.
mahira.duval@inl.co.za
Cape Argus