The Oudtshoorn Regional Court in the Western Cape has sentenced a 39-year-old woman to 20 years’ imprisonment for the murder of her seven-year-old son.
National Prosecuting Authority Spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila says Drezene Jonkerman admitted in a plea agreement that she strangled her son after claiming she saw his father’s face on him while bathing him.
Ntabazalila says she then went to church, leaving his limp body at home.
Ntabazalila says the court heard that Jonkerman had a history of drug abuse and a troubled relationship with the child’s father, although her claims of abuse were denied and unsubstantiated.
The court also declared her unfit to work with children or own a firearm.
