He is now with his beloved Reeva: Tributes pour in after Barry Steenkamp dies in his sleep

Barry, father of Reeva Steenkamp, is seen during the handing down of judgment in the murder trial of paralympian Oscar Pistorius at the High Court in Pretoria on Friday, 12 September 2014. Picture: Alon Skuy/Times Media Group/Pool

Barry, father of Reeva Steenkamp, is seen during the handing down of judgment in the murder trial of paralympian Oscar Pistorius at the High Court in Pretoria on Friday, 12 September 2014. Picture: Alon Skuy/Times Media Group/Pool

Published Sep 15, 2023

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Barry Steenkamp, father of slain model, Reeva Steenkamp has died.

In a post shared on the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation page, the family shared that Steenkamp died in his sleep on Thursday. He was 80-years-old at the time of his passing.

“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the sudden and peaceful passing of Barry Steenkamp in his sleep, on the early evening of September 14,” the post read.

“Barry was a blessing to many, and he will be remembered with love and great fondness. We find solace in the knowledge that he is now with his beloved Reeva.”

According to reports, he had been battling health complications.

He is survived by his wife, June and two children, Simone and Adam. His daughter, Reeva was shot dead on Valentine’s Day in 2013 by boyfriend, Oscar Pistorius who claimed he thought she was an intruder.

Pistorius claimed that he thought Steenkamp was an intruder. She sustained three gunshot wounds and died at the scene.

Pistorius received a sentence of 13 years and five months and has since taken his fight for freedom to the Constitutional Court.

Throughout Pistorius’s parole bid, the Steenkamp’s have maintained that the former paralympian has shown no remorse for their model daughter’s death.

He met with Pistorius last year as part of the Victim-Offender Dialogue, facilitated by the Department of Correctional Services.

Speaking to MailOnline at the time, Barry said when he spoke to Pistorius about deliberately shooting Reeva, he denied it.

“I told Oscar directly that he shot my daughter deliberately, and he denied it. He stuck to his story that he thought it was an intruder. After all these years we are still waiting for him to admit he did it in anger. That is all we wanted,” he was quoted as saying.

“If he told me the truth, he would have been a free man by now and I would have let the law take its course over his parole. But I was wasting my time. He is a murderer. He should remain in jail.”

Steenkamp’s funeral arrangements have not yet been made public.

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