Mom’s heartbreak as teen son’s killer gets 5 years
AFTER months of waiting for justice, a Hillary mother is disappointed with the five-year sentence given to her son’s killer.
In March 2022, classmates Jayden Glazer, 15, and Ryleigh Naidoo, 16, got into a fist fight allegedly over a girl. Jayden was stabbed to death.
They were both pupils at Chosen Independent Studies in Grades 9 and 10 respectively.
The fight was captured on video and Ryleigh was subsequently charged with murder.
The trial was heard in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court and in March, Ryleigh, now 18, was found guilty of murder.
Last week, he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment but the high court is currently reviewing his sentence.
But for Jorina Pretorius, this is no consolation for the loss of her son – the sentence, she said, was not just.
Now all she has of her son is a memorial table and garden.
Said Pretorius: “The courts really traumatised us. We relived my son’s murder. In court, we had to hear how Jayden was killed and watched the video footage of the fight that cost him his life.
“We have not even been able to grieve properly. For us, five years of jail time is not enough. It’s not justice. Ryleigh has not shown any remorse for what he did to my child. In court he would walk right past me, going into the dock, and look me up and down.”
She said she would never forget the day of the call about Jayden being stabbed.
“It was during Covid-19. I was at home with my cousin and I got a call on my cell phone from one of Jayden’s teachers, she told me that he had been stabbed. I remember telling my cousin what had happened and then I ran out of my house without my shoes or a mask. I just had my phone in my hand.”
Pretorius said when she arrived at the school, paramedics were treating Jayden.
“My son was slipping in and out of consciousness. He was bleeding a lot. I was shocked and I watched helplessly as the paramedics tried to save him. He was then transported to hospital where he later died.”
Pretorius said she re-lived that moment everyday.
“I wish I could have done more to save him.”
Pretorius said Jayden was a loving and responsible child.
“Jayden was well-known in our complex because he washed cars to earn pocket money. When he passed on, residents from the complex came to me and told me they had also lost a son in Jayden. This showed me how much he was loved.”
She said Jayden wanted to become a commercial pilot.
“He had big dreams but this was all cut short. For me the pain of losing him is still real. I opened a tuck shop to keep myself busy so my mind does not wander to the moment my son lost his life.
“I have made two memorials for Jayden at our home. One in our garden and one on a table inside our home.”
Pretorius said the table had his photographs from when he was a child.
“I also have a model of a bridge, which he made for a school project but did not get to submit.
“I have a pair of his baby shoes, which I had bronzed and I turned a buff, that he used as a mask during the Covid-19 pandemic, into a teddy bear.
“These things help me feel connected to him.”
The grieving mother said she had started speaking to other people who had lost children because they could relate to what she was going through.
“The pain and hurt of losing Jayden is still there but I am trying to heal.”
The Naidoo family declined to comment.