Mpiletso Motumi
Chantel Morris, the mother of the 4-year-old boy dragged to death in a hijacking, came face to face with suspects police had lined up in connection with her son’s murder.
Yesterday, the grieving mother of Taégrin Morris had to identify a man who might have been one of his alleged killers.
Taégrin died on Saturday night after being dragged in his mother’s hijacked car in Reiger Park. Morris tried to pull him out of the back seat of the car, but he got caught in the seat belt. Taégrin was dragged for about 4.5km until the car was abandoned in Boksburg.
Morris has been brave throughout the ordeal, managing to identify her son’s body on Monday and possibly his alleged killer yesterday. A man was brought in to the police station for questioning on Monday after police received a tip-off.
Hundreds of residents had flocked to the police station threatening to kill the man if he was released. They pleaded with President Jacob Zuma to visit their crime-ridden community – or else they threatened to take the law into their own hands.
Some residents said the man lived in the area.
Morris’s cousin Debra Boards said the family had reason to believe the hijackers knew them.
The Morris family spokesman, Grant Esterhuizen, said Chantel was too distraught to talk to the media. He refused to comment on the identity parade, saying the police had advised them not to leak any information in fear of jeopardising the case.
Police spokeswoman Colonel Noxolo Kweza said that the police would not comment on the identity parade. “We haven’t arrested anyone and we are appealing to members of the community to not take the law into their own hands and allow the police to investigate,” she said.
Kweza said the police had increased the reward for information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of the suspects from R50 000 to R100 000.
On Monday, after spending an hour with the Morris family and expressing his condolences, Gauteng Premier David Makhura said he had ordered the police to step up their investigation of the “heartless” killing of the boy. His spokeswoman Nino Zama said the premier was planning his own intervention to address the drug and crime problem.
A memorial service for Taégrin will be held in the Reiger Park community hall at 6pm tomorrow.