Durban – Anneline Pillay’s family studied her alleged murderer carefully in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
They said the suspect, Tyrone Pillay, who was Annelene’s former boyfriend, appeared to show no remorse.
“He displays no remorse for his crime. We all watched what he did on the CCTV footage. And now he wants bail.
"But we want justice, he must pay for her death,” said Annelene’s father, Lincoln Pillay.
The distraught dad, with about a dozen other relatives, staged a mini picket outside the court, as the suspect made a brief appearance.
Their posters read: “Tyrone you monster, you took our baby away from us” and “Crime against women is a crime against humanity”.
The 31-year-old Croftdene resident was charged with the murder of Annelene, 27, a customer care controller for a shipping and logistics company in Jacobs, south of Durban, in November.
He stands accused of shooting her five times, with the cause of death being a shot to the head.
Soon after the murder, Annelene’s family spoke of the tumultuous 10-year relationship between the couple, with alleged threats made on Annalene’s life if she left him.
Annelene reportedly spoke to her mother 15 minutes before she was killed, telling her mom that she feared for her life on that day.
The shooting was captured on CCTV, and the video went viral, with a report also appearing in the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper.
It is believed that her former boyfriend, from whom she had split for six months, had called her car tracking company demanding to know where the vehicle was that day, and the company then alerted Annelene.
The CCTV footage shows a black car driving up to the staircase as Annelene makes her way down. A man is seen jumping out of the car, running towards the staircase and opening fire.
Annelene tumbles to the bottom of the stairs, and a colleague rushes past her to alert security while the suspect drives away.
When her family arrived at the scene soon afterwards, her body was already covered in foil.
Her father said Christmas and New Year’s days without their daughter "was a very difficult time for us, not having her there to spend time with us during those special times.
"But we are determined as a family that we will push for him to get life for his crime. We took leave from work to be here, and we will continue to make time to come to court and show how we feel, for justice for my daughter,” said Lincoln.
The case was adjourned to February 9 for a formal bail application.