No arrests yet in murder of Taegrin
It’s been more than six weeks since a little boy, Taegrin Morris, was killed in a hijacking, but still no arrests have been made.
According to spokesperson for the Gauteng police, Col Noxolo Khweza, by the morning of September 2, the police are looking into all leads.
Police say investigation continues and they are making finding the person or people who killed Taegrin their number one priority.
The four-year-old boy had his whole life ahead of him, but only for it to be cut short by car thieves on July 19, after being dragged for 8.5km behind his parents’ hijacked car.
This is a murder that has outraged the Gauteng community and exposed how innocent children can easily become victims of crime.
During an interview with the Advertiser, a few days after the incident, Taegrin’s parents, Chantal and Elvin Morris, said they wanted this case to be resolved.
“All I want is justice to be served. These people must be arrested and rot in jail. They don’t deserve to be released back into society because if they are out, such crimes would happen again,” said Elvin.
“As long as these guys are still walking freely in our community, I can’t get over this. It will stick with me forever. I can’t deal with this,” added Elvin.
Concerned residents spent the day on, July 21 protesting outside the Reiger Park police station, demanding justice and threatening to find and kill the hijackers themselves if police failed to arrest them.
During the protest, angry residents and Taegrin’s aunts, Debra Board, called for the hijackers who murdered the little boy to turn themselves in.
“These kids in Reiger Park don’t have a chance to grow up before they are dead. The senseless act of violence on the streets of Reiger Park is outrageous and makes me fear for my own family,” said one resident.
Authorities, including the newly-appointed Gauteng Premier David Makhura, the mayor of Ekurhuleni, Clr Mondli Gungubele, alongside other community leaders subsequently came out in support to protest the violence in Reiger Park.
They have also called for the suspects to be arrested and the harshest punishment to be meted out.
“I remain shattered by this incident. The loss of Taegrin has not only shocked and robbed the Morris family, but the city as a whole and the country at large. It is my sincere wish that the security services do their best to arrest these oxygen thieves, and put them behind bars where they belong,” said Gungubele.
During Taegrin’s memorial service, Brig Jacobus van der Westhuizen, Brakpan cluster commander, assured the community that investigations were at an advanced stage.
He assured community members that those responsible for the fatal hijacking will soon be arrested and sent to jail.
However, police still don’t have a person of interest in custody and no one has been charged in Taegrin’s murder to date.
“We also need your assistance to arrest the responsible criminals, but also allow us to do the job that we are being paid for,” appealed the cluster commander.
The secretary of the Reiger Park CPF, Trevor Reeby, also called for the community to stand together against these heartless criminals.
“There is no way in the township that a four-year-old child die in the street of Reiger Park and we remain silent. We have to speak out. We have to tell what we know,” said Reeby.
A few days after the incident, police did take a man in for questioning, but that person has not been charged with this murder.
“The man was only taken in for questioning after the family pointed out that he may have information that would assists the police in finding the suspects,” says Khweza.
“We have also questioned other several people regarding this case, and they were all cleared and released.”
A R100 000 reward is being offered for tips leading to an arrest and conviction of Taegrin’s killers.
Anyone with information is asked to anonymously contact the Reiger Park police on 011 916 700. – @FanieBoksburg
