Durban - The uMlazi boy killed when hit in the head by a stray bullet on New Year’s Eve will be buried on Sunday.
Lindelwa Nyadi’s grieving family now wants answers. They want to know who fired the fatal shot, downing the child as he played with friends.
Private Durban ballistics expert Jacobus Steyl, who is not dealing with this case but regularly works on other crimes, said it would not be easy to get to the bottom of the matter.
Lindelwa’s older sister, Samke, said police were investigating the incident, treating it as a criminal case.
“He was brought home by other kids and we thought he had collapsed. We never heard the gunshot because people were letting off fireworks. We want to know who fired this bullet. They must be punished,” she said.
She described how Lindelwa suddenly fell to the ground and his family only discovered he had been shot when an X-ray showed the bullet in his brain.
Lindelwa, 12, was about to start Grade 7 at Sukuma Primary School.
Steyl said the next step for a ballistics expert was to use physics to work out the direction the bullet came from, at what angle it entered the child's body and at what speed
This would help determine the origin of the shot.
“Take, for example, a 9mm calibre bullet. The weight is 115 grain (7.45g) and the velocity 360m/second.
“Should this bullet be found lodged in the body during the postmortem, forensic examiners can use it to work back.
“They have to deduct how much the velocity slowed because of skin and bone penetration to determine the remaining velocity. From this they can work out how far away the shooter was when he fired.
“We also look at the location of the wound. By analysing its outer appearance and the underlying bone, one can determine if the bullet impacted the body at an angle or if it was perpendicular.
“The location of the bullet in the body in relation to the entrance wound can help in determining the angle of its path.”
The next step was to see how deeply the bullet penetrated.
“Let’s say the bullet penetrated the skin and skull and was retrieved in the brain. That implies the bullet only had sufficient energy to penetrate skin and bone.
“To determine the distance this bullet travelled, the examiner has to deduct skin and bone penetration velocity from the muzzle velocity.
“The bullet can be analysed to determine the calibre and any defects which could indicate that it impacted a surface before the death.
“Once we know the calibre, rifling grooves and direction, we can determine the most probable type of firearm used. Those are the basic aspects,” said Steyl.