ESTELLE “NONNIE” VALENTINE, 13, KILLED ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28 2013
DISTRAUGHT Helenvale mother-of-four Esmerelda Valentine, 32, has not been able to sleep since the death of her daughter, Estelle, 13, three months ago.
“I toss and turn every night. I cannot sleep because I dream about her and then I wake up because it feels so real and I want to see her alive again. I also cannot sleep because I worry about my other children,” she said.
Valentine struggles to tell the story of Estelle’s death – who was affectionately known as Nonnie – without bursting into tears.
“She was my second eldest child but she was like my right hand. I could always rely on her for anything. My eldest daughter has a child, so I was depending on Nonnie.
“She was bringing home good reports and she was going to start high school this year. She was going to study hard and become a teacher.”
Valentine said on the day of the shooting Nonnie had gone to the chemist to get medication for an upset stomach. When she returned, Nonnie went to see her cousins in the street.
“I was seeing to my baby when two guys came to my house to tell me that my child was lying alone on the ground in Voisin Street.”
She said, according to reports she had received, Nonnie was grabbed by a man who asked her for R2. “One girl who saw it happen said the guy who shot Nonnie was actually after the one who grabbed her. This guy had seen this other one approach him with a gun and had used Nonnie as a shield.”
Valentine said a suspect had been arrested for Nonnie’s murder and the murder of another man earlier that day but had since been released on R1 000 bail.