Tears for mom slain in front of daughter
These were the words of her uncle, Graaff-Reinet police station commander Jonathan Van der Rheede at the Goodwood Baptist church yesterday as he paid tribute to his 35-year-old niece who was shot and killed in front of her 15-year-old daughter.
The young mother was shot twice in her family’s driveway on December11, after returning from a friend. One of the bullets ricocheted and lodged in her daughter’s left foot.
Van der Rheede said that far too often in his line of work, he saw women too afraid to walk away from abusive partners.
“These men try to hold on to their partners with a vice grip by using violence, but this is not strength but weakness. Angie walked away from a 15-year abusive relationship, after pleas and support from friends and family because she could not continue living that way,” he said.
Tears flowed as tributes were delivered for Marinus, as her father Stanley Marinus and mother Olga looked on, while her daughter cradled her grandmother’s head during a slide show prepared for the mourners.
After the service, Van der Rheede told the Cape Times that his niece’s former partner was still in custody, for which they were grateful as it would have been unsettling to know he was not behind bars.
After police searched the Bishop Lavis area, 40-year-old Wayne Lawrence handed himself over to them.
He was denied bail at his first court appearance on Friday.
Family member Patrick Grove said: “The emotions within the entire family still range from denial to anger and sadness as we come to grips with losing Angie.
“Her daughter is receiving counselling, as are her parents during this time.”
He said Marinus would be cremated, after which the family would decide how to honour her.
Marinus’s mother briefly spoke to the Cape Times on Wednesday to say she could not express how she felt as she had not had enough time to process her daughter’s death.