Heart attack fells dad of slain 9-year-old Miguel Louw

Less than two weeks before Miguel Louw's family planned to pay tribute to him, the nine-year-old boy's father died on Tuesday morning.

The murdered boy's aunt, Tasneem dos Santos, told TimesLIVE that 48-year-old Kirk Louw complained of chest pains early on Tuesday morning.

He died of a heart attack before he could arrive at hospital.

"We are devastated and shocked," she said.

Dos Santos said the family had been planning Miguel's one-year memorial, which was scheduled to take place on July 17.

"We were busy planning to remember Miguel and no one expected his dad to die. It was sudden.

"Miguel's mother, Raylene, and his sister Mikayla are doing really bad. They are finished," she said.

Miguel went missing on July 17 last year.

The 43-year-old man accused of killing Miguel had an argument with the boy's mother before he allegedly kidnapped him.

That is according to an indictment presented in the Durban Magistrate's Court in April when Mohammed Vahed Ebrahim appeared on murder and kidnapping charges.

"As a result the accused decided to kill the deceased in order to exact revenge on the deceased's mother," states the indictment.

According to the indictment, Ebrahim occasionally stayed with the Louw family in Sydenham and would perform odd jobs around the home.

"During the afternoon of Tuesday July 17 2018, the accused lured the deceased from school to a nearby food outlet. He bought food for him and then left with the boy.

"At some stage, and in circumstances unknown to the state, the accused killed the deceased and left his body in the bushy area adjacent to Longbury Drive, Phoenix," the indictment stated.

It did not say how and when Ebrahim allegedly killed Miguel, as the autopsy could not ascertain the cause "due to decomposition and skeletonisation".

However, suffocation was not ruled out.

The child's decomposed remains were found several weeks later in a park in Phoenix, a short distance from Ebrahim's family home.

The murder charge was officially brought against Ebrahim in December when he stepped out of the dock after a short appearance on the kidnapping charge.

During his first application for bail, the court heard that Ebrahim had slept in a shed on a foam mattress after becoming estranged from his family.

He was working as a butcher at the time. He entered Miguel's life as an acquaintance of the boy's mother, Raylene. The two worked at the same butchery.

He lived with Miguel and his mother for two weeks before the two had an altercation.

When he was first arrested‚ he was found in possession of Miguel's original birth certificate‚ as well as Raylene's ID.

Ebrahim will stand trial in the Durban High Court in October.