THE body of a teen girl was found with a bullet wound to her head in an alleyway between two primary schools in Lavender Hill on Monday.
The body of Mischka April, 17, of Village Heights, was found off Depsiton Crescent at about 6.40am, said police spokesperson André Traut.
“We have reason to believe that she was shot and killed during the early hours of (Monday) morning by an unknown suspect.”
Four people were shot and killed in Lavender Hill in separate incidents last week.
In the latest, schoolchildren had to pass Mischka's body as a large crowd gathered before the body was removed mid-morning.
Mischka’s mother, Zaibonesa April, was too distraught to speak to the Cape Times seconds after the mortuary van had removed her daughter’s body.
Her grandmother, Millicent April, said she last saw the teenager at about 10pm on Sunday night, when friends called her to a nearby street corner.
She said a stranger alerted her at about 7am to Mischka’s shooting and called her to the scene. She noticed her granddaughter had been shot in the face.
“She was already dead,” said the grandmother. “She was not a gang member, but her mother stays in an area where the (Junkie) Funkies (Kids) are.”
Bystanders said they had heard shots at 8pm in nearby St Christopher Street on Sunday night, as well as between 2am and 4am, when they estimate Mischka was killed.
Hillwood Primary principal Gavin Alkana, who taught Mischka at Levana Primary, said: “I recall her being in my class. She was an above-average pupil, showed potential, was very friendly, not rude and not affiliated to gang activities.”
Traut requested anyone with information about the murder to contact Steenberg police at 021 702 9000 or Crime Stop at 0860 010 111.