Johannesburg – The man who brutally killed little Michaela Williams has been sentenced to three life terms and seven years in prison.
His name, Steven Fortune, will also be recorded in the National Register of Sex Offenders as ordered by the High Court of South Africa, in the Western Cape today.
The High Court of South Africa in the Western Cape Division, also ordered for his name to be to be entered into the National Register of Sex Offenders.
Fortune kidnapped, raped and then murdered Michaela on the evening of January 7, 2020 in New Horizon, Pelican Park.
The 12-year-old girl went to play outside after she finished her supper and her mother started searching for later as she was no longer outside the house or in the courtyard where she usually played.
She was reported missing on the same evening.
Fortune who was known to the little girl, lured her to a secluded plot a few kilometers from her home.
The court heard how he strangled her with his hand and that she fought back knocking his glasses off his face.
“But Fortune overpowered her, ripped off her vest and used the torn fabric to bind her wrists behind her back. He then raped her. When she tried to scream, he used her skirt as a cord to strangle her.
He then threw two concrete blocks onto her head, covered her body with a blanket and left,” reads the statement from the National Prosecuting Authority.
Eric Ntabazalila, Regional Spokesperson for the Department of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape, said the search for Williams intensified the following day and that the evening of January 8, 2020, Fortune had sent a message to his family indicating that he wanted the police to fetch him at a specific location. He made a statement and pointed out where Williams’ body was.
The court ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
Ntabazalila said the successful prosecution and heavy sentence emanate from the meticulous work of Advocate Nadia Ajam who prosecuted the case.
The NPA welcomes the sentence and the organisation further commits itself in the fight against gender-based violence and crimes against children.
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