PODCAST | Don’t look away: The murder of Baby Daniel

In June 2016 paramedics were called to a home in Naturena, Johannesburg. There they found the body of a three-year-old boy, who would later come to be known as Baby Daniel.

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The child’s mother initially told police, after they launched an unnatural death investigation, that she had found that the boy was not breathing when she’d gone to wake him up that morning.

The woman’s boyfriend said the child had accidentally fallen into a bath the night before when he’d been distracted from watching him for just a minute. The man claimed the boy was completely fine after the incident, though.

When Daniel’s body was autopsied, it soon became clear that the evidence did not support what his caregivers were saying. In stark contrast, it seemed that Baby Daniel’s entire three years on earth had been a living hell and his painful death had been the result of that ongoing abuse.

As Daniel’s alleged murderers faced a judge, his mother’s story would start to change. Before long, she claimed she was not a perpetrator but rather another victim of her abusive and violent boyfriend.

In episode 108 of True Crime South Africa we explore the tragic and shocking death of Baby Daniel and ask what, if anything, could have been done to avoid it.

For more episodes, click here.

Community Intervention Centre (24-hour trauma helpline): 082-821-3447

Join the conversation on Twitter at #TrueCrimeSA

E-mail the show: info@killeraudiocreations.com

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