‘I saw my boy take his last breath’
A PARKWOOD Estate mother is struggling to come to terms with the murder of her 7-year-old child.
Ezra Daniels, her son, was watching television at home when his friends called him outside. While playing in Abdullah Moosa Road opposite his house, a bullet from a drive-by shooting hit him in the neck.The Hyde Park Primary School Grade 1 pupil died on the scene.
Desiree Daniels, 51, cried when visited yesterday. Community members who consoled her said she didn’t hear the gunshots, and her other son came running to report that Ezra had been shot.
“I was in the backyard and my son came running to tell me Ezra was shot, I thought maybe the bullet hit him on his leg or something; I was just not thinking straight,” she said.
“There was nothing I could do but stand helplessly and watch him struggling to take his last breath. I can’t explain that moment.… I still can’t believe he is really gone and I am very angry. Police must do something. This can’t continue and it needs to stop. How many children and people must die until something is done?” Daniels said.
She said the hardest part was seeing Ezra at the Salt River mortuary.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said a murder case was registered for investigation. Four suspects, one female, 20, and three males, 27, 29 and 33, were arrested.
“The community members became riotous and threw stones at SAPS members, injuring two members and damaging one vehicle. Cases of public violence and malicious damage to property and attack on police (assault) were registered for investigation,” Van Wyk said.
Elizabeth Cupido, 61, a neighbour of the Daniels family, said her child was also a victim of gang-violence shootings in the area.
“These gangs are ripping our families as they are taking innocent lives. My child is now paralysed as he was shot. I heard the gunshots while I was inside my house. After a few minutes, I went to check and saw how him lying there opposite his home.
“All my children will play inside as I am scared, I know this will not really help because the bullets can come through the window or door. We do not deserve to live like this,” Cupido said.