- Sixteen-year-old Joshua Edwards was shot and killed in a friend's house in Midrand in January 2021.
- The court found the friend guilty of culpable homicide.
- Meanwhile, the father of the accused was acquitted on charges of failing to lock away the firearm used in the shooting.
The teenager who shot and killed 16-year-old Joshua Edwards has been found guilty of culpable homicide, while his father escaped conviction on charges of failing to lock away the firearm.
The accused, who is now 18, cannot be named because he was a minor at the time of the incident.
He had been charged with murder or an alternative count of culpable homicide, pointing of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, defeating the ends of justice and the unlawful and intentional handling of a firearm.
His father, who can't be identified in order to protect his son's identity, was charged with the unlawful possession of a firearm, defeating the ends of justice and failing to lock away a firearm.
On Monday, the Pretoria Magistrate's Court acquitted the father on all charges, while his son was found guilty of culpable homicide, unlawful possession of ammunition and the unlawful possession of a firearm.
After summarising all the evidence, Magistrate Adriaan Bekker highlighted issues he found with testimony by both the State witness and the accused.
This included contradictory evidence by one of the accused's friends, who was present on the day that Edwards was shot.
The friend testified that he had seen two shotguns, yet in a statement to a private investigator hired by the Edwards family, he made no mention of this.
The witness also appears to have lied about whether he was vaping, but Bekker found that it was not a material issue.
Bekker also collated the evidence of the witness' father, who was at the property on the day that Edwards was shot.
The witness' father previously told the court that he, too, had seen two shotguns.
Bekker also criticised the testimony of the accused, citing that he, in some instances, did not impress the court.
This included testimony where the accused was argumentative and gave long-winded answers to straightforward questions.
Bekker had also pointed out that he lied to police about when he removed the shotgun from his father's safe. The teenager had initially told police that he removed the firearm the day before the shooting.
He later recanted, saying he had been in possession of the firearm for around three months.
In his judgment, Bekker said the State failed to prove the existence of two shotguns beyond a reasonable doubt and that no case was made for murder based on dolus eventualis, which establishes legal intention where an accused person should have objectively foreseen that his conduct would cause the death of another but proceeded with the action regardless.
Instead, the accused was found guilty of culpable homicide, with Bekker noting the serious degree of recklessness.
Both accused were acquitted of defeating the ends of justice as the State did not lead evidence regarding the charge.
Edwards was visiting the accused at his house on 5 January 2021 when he was shot in the torso. He died at the scene.
During the trial, the teenager testified that they had been playing with his father's shotgun, which was unloaded. He then went to the bathroom and, upon returning, took the shotgun from Edwards and fired a shot, assuming the weapon was still unloaded.
The State, on the other hand, argued the only inference to be drawn from the totality of the evidence was that the teenager had act negligently, and should have foreseen that he may have killed Edwards if he pointed the shotgun at him and pulled the trigger.