CAPE TOWN - “Now we can rest. Orderick can rest.”
These were the words of slain Orderick Lucas’s mother, Davidene Lucas, outside the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday after Melvin Volkwyn was sentenced to 20 years direct imprisonment by Acting Judge Nolundi Nyati.
Volkwyn was convicted last month of the one-year-old’s murder, after the toddler’s maggot-infested body was found in a stormwater drain by a group of children in 2019.
Nyati, in her sentencing on Tuesday, described Volkwyn’s conduct as that of a “monster wrapped in candy floss” who had gained the trust of Lucas, a friend he had frequently smoked drugs with.
Nyati also said Volkwyn hadn’t been truly remorseful for his deeds despite him crying in court on a number of occasions.
Outside court, Lucas said she now looked forward to rebuilding her life and said she was relieved that court proceedings were over, however she wished for a lengthier sentence for Volkwyn.
“I don’t think it is enough because (Orderick) was just a baby. But it is better than nothing...It can’t bring Orderick back. I thought he would get 25 years or more. I’m not disappointed but I feel what he was served was very little because Orderick was a baby who was strangled,” said Lucas.
Lucas confirmed that she, along with her mother and father and partner Kounkou Dziendelet, are currently before the Family Court in Blue Downs relating to custody matters of her other children.
During sentencing an emotional Volkwyn, who maintained his innocence throughout the trial and pleaded not guilty, again fought back his tears in the dock as he listened to the judgment and at intervals shook his head in disagreement.
After signing documents handed to him by legal counsel, Volkwyn cried uncontrollably before being led down the dock.
Nyati said Orderick had “died a slow death” before his eventual demise when he had gone missing on March 25, 2019.
Nyati said murder is “undisputedly one of the serious offences in our country” adding that “crimes against children is a national pandemic”.
“What makes this offence particularly serious is the fact that Orderick was a one year 10 month old baby. The victim was an innocent, vulnerable and harmless baby that needed love and care.
“Evidence shows that Orderick suffered a slow death before his actual death caused by the accused. He had inflicted pain by extracting his teeth and injured his gum without asking his mother for at least medical assistance to avoid pain,” said Nyati.
The toddler’s maggot-infested body was found in a stormwater drain by a group of children playing with a ball when the ball rolled into the drain.
The gruesome discovery was made eight days after Orderick was reported missing - his body was already in an advanced state of decomposition.
Nyati said she agreed with the defence's argument during sentencing proceedings in mitigation of sentence that “the community had failed Orderick”.
Medical evidence could not confirm the cause of death while a state pathologist said there was a “strong suspicion of strangulation” due to a mark in the toddler's neck.
Cape Times