Cape Town - An emergency responder testified in the Western Cape High Court how he found the bruised and battered body of 3-year-old Robyn-Lee Gertse from Moorreesburg.
Godfrey Jantjies is accused of the girl’s murder and appeared yesterday before Judge Vincent Saldanha on charges of child abuse and murder.
Robyn-Lee’s body was found on the morning of May 24, 2015.
Jantjies allegedly abused Robyn-Lee by assaulting her and exposing her to behaviour that harmed her psychologically or emotionally.
It is the state’s belief that Jantjies, who was taking care of Robyn-Lee on the evening before she died, unlawfully and intentionally killed her by assaulting her and inflicting blunt force trauma.
The emergency responder on the scene, Heinrich Hendricks, testified that he received a call in the early hours from Gemsbok Street, Moorreesburg.
Hendricks said that when he arrived he saw that the victim had bruises on her head, mouth, around an eye and on her chest.
After attending to the victim he realised that she was already dead. It was his testimony that the victim had died of unnatural causes due to blunt force trauma.
Robyn-Lee’s mother, Ashleen Smit, also testified yesterday. She said she had left the girl in the care of Jantjies the night before while she was at a party. When she returned, she noticed her daughter was ill. She asked Jantjies to get medication but it.
They took the child to a neighbour where they called an ambulance, but when it arrived Robyn-Lee was dead.
Smit has pleaded guilty to negligence while Jantjies is out on bail.
Advocate Omar Arend, who is representing the accused, said in court that the accused denied ever abusing the victim and that the marks on her body that he was aware of were caused by accident.
Advocate Leon Snyman appeared on behalf of the State.