Africa-Press – South-Africa. The defence for the 18-year-old boy who shot and killed 16-year-old Joshua Edwards says he has conceded he should be found guilty of culpable homicide.
This was revealed in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where the State and defence gave their closing arguments.
The accused, who cannot be named because he was a minor at the time of the incident, was charged with myriad crimes, including murder, with an alternative count of culpable homicide, pointing of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm, defeating the ends of justice and the unlawful and intentional handling of a firearm.
His father, who cannot be identified either to protect his son’s identity, was charged with the unlawful possession of a firearm, defeating the ends of justice and failing to lock away a firearm.
While both accused had initially pleaded not guilty to all the charges, during the trial and in the closing arguments, it was conceded the teenager was in possession of a firearm and ammunition without having a licence or permit and that he killed his friend.
Murder charge
The pair’s lawyer, advocate Piet du Plessis, argued the teenager did not intentionally shoot Edwards on 5 January 2021, saying the teenager’s evidence around the shooting should be accepted.
During the trial, the teenager testified they had been playing with his father’s shotgun, which was unloaded. He then went to the bathroom and, upon returning, took the shotgun from Edwards and fired a shot, assuming the weapon was still unloaded.
Midrand teen charged with murder for allegedly shooting, killing friend with dad’s gun
Edwards was hit in the torso and died at the scene.
The State, on the other hand, argued the only inference to be drawn from the totality of the evidence is the teenager did not only act negligently, but with dolus eventualis, meaning the accused should have foreseen he may have killed Edwards if he pointed the shotgun at him and pulled the trigger.
Du Plessis countered this argument, submitting there was not enough evidence at the court’s disposal to come to a finding of beyond a reasonable doubt, but then conceded the accused was guilty of culpable homicide.
Prosecutor, advocate Annalie Coetzee, also submitted the teenager was guilty of culpable homicide in his own version, but submitted the accused’s version should be rejected.
Coetzee said:
“In the State’s submission, there were material differences between what had been put to witnesses and the evidence of accused one.”
Unlawful possession of a firearm
Du Plessis also told the court the teenager should be convicted for the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition as it was conceded during the trial he had removed the shotgun and ammunition from his father’s safe.
However, that is where the concessions stopped.
Du Plessis said the teenager’s father should be acquitted in respect of failing to lock away a firearm because the father had, at some point, locked the firearm in the safe.
He argued there was no evidence the father did not lock the firearms in a safe, and from the evidence, it was clear his son took the firearms out of the safe without his knowledge.
“He fulfilled his duty by locking up the said firearms in the proper prescribed safes. Whether he took the necessary measures to keep the keys to the safes in safe custody is debatable, but in any event, immaterial and irrelevant for the purposes of establishing whether accused two is guilty of the offences…” Du Plessis said.
Two shotguns
The accused were also charged with being in possession of a second shotgun that was never recovered at the scene. This was based on testimony from witnesses.
However, the defence argued the witness testimony was not credible and there was not enough evidence for the court to find two shotguns were present on the day Edwards was killed and before.
The State had argued one of the shotguns was removed from the crime scene after the shooting, which led to the belief there may not have been a valid licence for the weapon.
Judgment in the case is expected on 24 October.
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