Trial of man accused of killing Kloof granny postponed again

THE FAMILY of Jennifer King, who was killed at her Forest Hills home in January, are disappointed that the court case relating to her killing has again been postponed.

Today at the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court, friends and family of the Jenny, including her son, Kyle King and daughter, Lee-Anne King, were a significant presence in the gallery.

The accused, Charlie Ridgeway also had some of his friends in attendance, the two groups taking up much of the public gallery for Ridgeway’s appearance.

ALSO READ: Slain Kloof grandmother’s memory celebrated by her family

Jennifer’s daughter, Lee-Anne, spoke to the Highway Mail earlier in the morning before heading into the court in a series of Facebook live posts.

The court appearance was fleeting.  Magistrate Gwendolyn Robinson set another date saying the matter of which court would be hearing the case would be decided at the accused’s next appearance.

Magistrate Robinson also said that the court would expect that the results of a DNA report, which was still outstanding and was expected to only be available in three week’s time, should have been made available to all parties.

The date was set for Monday, 4 November.

Angelina Samsonova, a friend of the family who was present in court, said she felt the constant delays were incredibly difficult for the family to bear.

“This court case dragging on is just horrible and inhuman in my opinion… because it costs Lee-Anne a lot just to gather herself every time she has to face this man and the terribly disorganised court system,” she said.

“First of all you have to survive the tragedy of losing one of your closest people this way, and then you should somehow gather strength to survive all this. It is a form of cruelty and it is an insult to the memory of the victims and their families.” 

King was herself unavailable for comment on the afternoon following the court appearance.  However, in a statement made earlier to the Highway Mail she had touched on how traumatic it is for the whole family to have to keep coming back to court.

ALSO READ: Jenny King murder investigation continues

She outlined in an interview on Facebook Live, the various delays that had led to today’s appearance.

https://www.facebook.com/highwaymail/videos/673427566487569/

Jennifer King, or Jenny as she was known by friends, was found dead in her Forest Hills home in the early hours of Saturday, 12 January by her daughter.

According to Jenny’s daughter, the body showed signs of having been brutally beaten.

ALSO READ: #WomensMonth: Alleged Kloof femicide victim’s daughter speaks out

Back in January police reported that a case of murder was being investigated and that Jenny King’s boyfriend had appeared in court on Monday, 14 January.

“A female victim was found deceased in a house in Forest Hills. It is alleged that she had an argument with her boyfriend early on in the evening. He had already left the house when she was found,” Capt Lindzi Smith of Hillcrest SAPS told a Highway Mail reporter.

ALSO READ: Woman found dead in Forest Hills home, boyfriend hands himself in

The friends of the accused outside the court before the appearance were asked if they too would like to comment but declined to do so.

However, at the last appearance, Ridgeway also expressed his frustrations regarding the constant delays. One of his friends said the impact on his life since the incident in January has been very disruptive.

Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Highway community news via Telegram? Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409.

You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts.

Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.

To receive our free newsletter click here.