Kimberley - A 17-year-old suspect, accused of fatally stabbing a Barkly Road resident in the early hours of Monday morning, has been arrested and will remain in custody until the new year.
The teenager appeared in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday following the stabbing of Lionel Fritz, who died in Petunia Street, Squarehill Park, earlier this week.
As a minor, the accused can not be named, but police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Dimakatso Mooi, confirmed the arrest, adding that the accused would be kept at a local place of safety until his next court appearance on January 3 2018.
“The suspect was arrested on Monday night at his place of residence,” Mooi said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. “He appeared in court on a charge of murder and the case was postponed.”
“The suspect was taken to the Molehe Mampe Secure Care Centre as he is a minor. Police investigations continue.”
Meanwhile, at Fritz’s family home in Barkly Road on Tuesday, the aunt of the deceased, Farieda Hoosein, said that the death had come as an absolute shock and coming to terms with her nephew’s absence at home would be a difficult adjustment.
Surrounded by relatives who travelled to Kimberley to pay their final respects, Hoosein said that the reality of what had happened in the early hours of Monday morning was only likely to set in after her guests had left and she was on her own.
“All my children have moved out but Lionel used to stay here with me,” Hoosein recalled yesterday. “He used to look after me and cook for us.
“The death really came as a shock to all of us and the whole family is devastated. Lionel has lived with me since his parents passed away when he was only eight months old.
“He was my nephew but I raised him from a very early age and he was as much a son to me as my other children.”
Hoosein said that the last time she had spoken to Fritz was on Sunday afternoon when she sent him to the shops.
Sunday also marked the ninth birthday of the deceased’s son and Hoosein said Fritz had gone to Petunia Street, where the child lives with his mother, in order to ensure that the celebration was a memorable occasion for the youngster.
“His son meant everything to him. He used to visit him every day and was an active and loving father who did everything in his power to give the child every opportunity that he could in life.
“He did leave a will and the child will be inheriting everything he owned.
“We still don’t know how to tell the child that his father was murdered, but he knows that something has happened to his dad.
“As Muslims, it is not in our culture to take revenge or to have ill-will towards anyone, but as a family, we want to know what happened and why.”