IN PICTURES | Chevonne murder trial: Crowd hurls insults at grieving mother, attacks friend

Drama erupted outside the Germiston magistrate’s court on Wednesday, forcing the grieving mother of a murdered two-year-old toddler to miss the scheduled bail hearing of the alleged killer.

A crowd of about 30 people gathered outside the court, calling for accused Cornelius Stephanus van Niekerk not to be granted bail and taking aim at the toddler’s mother. She is not being identified here to shield the identity of her other minor children.

Van Niekerk, the fiancé of the toddler’s mother, was arrested in connection with the death of Chevonne Avril Rusch about two weeks ago. He allegedly dropped the child at the Primrose Clinic where she was certified dead on arrival.

The court heard just before the expected hearing that Van Niekerk had provisionally abandoned his application for bail.

Van Niekerk, wearing a baseball jacket, shorts and sneakers, barely made eye contact with anyone in the courtroom. He sobbed while looking down, his face buried in his hands.

The court ruled in favour of the media, including TimesLIVE, to be allowed to take photographs. The state indicated a postmortem and witness statement were outstanding.

Community members from Klopperpark, wearing T-shirts bearing Chevonne’s name, had earlier hurled insults at her mother.

They called her “a bad mother”, while some shouted “you’re guilty too” as she made her way out of the court building during a break. She ended up not attending the court proceedings.

A woman who accompanied her, who identified herself as Kayla, a close family friend, said the “drama outside court was unnecessary” and the crowd was misinformed with their accusation of her being a possible accomplice.

“She’s unable to attend the bail hearing and the crowd is making it difficult for her to mourn her child’s death,” Kayla said.

A TimesLIVE photographer witnessed a supporter of Chevonne’s mother being assaulted by a community member outside court.

The toddler’s father, Bradleigh Rusch, was among those present in court.

He said his daughter’s murder could have been avoided.

Rusch said his daughter died while he had been trying to get her back for more than a month after she had gone to visit her mother for what was supposed to be a weekend visit.

“I think my daughter’s death could have been avoided because she died while I was trying to get her back and was being taken from pillar to post,” Rusch said.

The case was  postponed to July 19 for further investigation.

TimesLIVE

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