Lekita’s killer to be evaluated
Psychiatrist will assess his level of danger to society
CONVICTED murderer Cameron Wilson could face indefinite imprisonment should a Valkenberg psychiatrist declare him a danger to society. Wilson was found guilty of five counts of murder, including that of 18-year-old Valhalla Park teen Lekita Moore, who was stabbed 98 times. He was also convicted of three attempted murder charges and a charge of rape.
On Friday, Western Cape High Court Judge Chantel Fortuin referred Wilson to Valkenberg for evaluation in terms of Section 286A of the Criminal Procedure Act.
Under the act, the accused can be declared a dangerous criminal.
Jameelah Omar, a lecturer in criminal justice at the University of Cape Town, said Section 286A was seldom used, but may be appropriate when the offence did not justify life imprisonment but the offender was a danger to the physical or mental well-being of others.
“The danger must be so serious that it justifies detention for an indeterminate period.
“After a certain period that the court determines at the time of sentence, the court can reconsider the sentence of indefinite imprisonment,” she said.
A psychiatrist trusted by the court will assess Wilson’s dangerousness.
“It has been considered that the best predictor of future violence is the fact that that person has acted violently in the past, but there may be behaviour that emerges under the psychiatric evaluation that points to dangerousness outside of past offences,” said Omar.
However, Lekita’s father, Charles Moore, said this was an attempt to claim insanity.
“He is playing mad now. He says he can’t remember all the things he has done.
“He needs to suffer in jail and feel the pain that we are constantly feeling when we think about her and what she could be doing with her life,” said Moore.
He said Saturday would have been Lekita’s 19th birthday. He said the family would be spending the day feeding underprivileged children in the community.
“Lekita loved children, so I am sure she would be happy to see that we spent her birthday feeding the poor,” said Moore.
Community Safety MEC Dan Plato welcomed the evaluation order. He (Wilson) is still young to have committed such crimes, and this speaks greatly of his upbringing and life at home. We know his father is also a criminal, so this is something Wilson grew up seeing. The dad spilled the dry beans over to him,” said Plato.