Cape High Court roll sees two cases of child murder

THE WESTERN Cape High Court roll saw two cases involving child murders, one of which was two children allegedly murdered by their mother’s boyfriend. Derick Kalmeyer is charged with the murders of 1-year-old Conray Adams and 3-year-old Faith Adams.

The State is set to prove that Kalmeyer had been dating the children’s mother and that in May 2019, he allegedly stabbed them several times in Louwville, Vredenberg.

It is believed Kalmeyer had argued with the children’s mother after a night of drinking.

The matter has been set down for trial on October 31. Judge Robert Henney confirmed that the case was ready for trial. The case had previously been heard at the Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court and was transferred to the Western Cape High Court in 2020.

Kalmeyer was also out on parole at the time of the alleged incident after being released in 2018. His crime sheet goes as far back as 1995. He had been sentenced to 12 years behind bars following a 2010 knife attack on a teenage girl and before that, in 2003, he was found guilty of assault to cause grievous bodily harm and received 11 years in prison. In 1995, he was also sentenced to a year behind bars after being found guilty of the assault to cause grievous bodily harm.

Another case on the court roll was that of Mohammed Yassem Claasen, Chadwin Charles, Bashier Gamba and Kyle du Toit who are believed to have been part of a 2020 drive-by shooting in Grassy Park where four children were wounded and one killed.

Advocate Adenaan Gelderboem indicated that Charles, who was out on a warning, was not present and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

“Accused one, three and four are negotiating a plea sentence agreement,” he said. “There is an agreement with accused three (Gamba) but we are still negotiating with accused one and four (Claasen and du Toit), accused one was a minor at the time of the offence.” The matter was postponed to June 10 for further pre-trial.