Teen sentenced to 25 years for the murder of Deveney Nel

THE Western Cape High Court on Friday sentenced an 18-year-old boy to 25 years of direct imprisonment following his confession to the murder of Deveney Nel.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said her mother, Lida Nel, and the investigating officer, Detective Warrant Officer Louw, were consulted before the sentence agreement was concluded, and they agreed with the sentence.

Deveney’s lifeless body was found on 7 August 2024, in the storeroom of Hoërskool Overberg. She had allegedly been stabbed to death by the fellow pupil. 

Her mother reported her missing after failing to return home to Grabouw following the school’s sports day.

The accused, whose identity is withheld due to his age, in the lead-up to the trial underwent a 30-day psychiatric evaluation at Valkenberg Hospital. The assessment confirmed that he is fit to stand trial.

During the trial, the court heard that Deveney and her killer were both part of their school’s first aid team and were friends. On the day of her murder, they were both on first aid duty at a school sporting event.   

Around 3.45pm, he asked her if she would assist at the netball courts, and she agreed. He accompanied her. He claims they became intimate in the school’s storeroom, and she told him after that she had cheated on her new boyfriend with him.

In his plea and sentence agreement, the teenager, who on the first aid team with Deveney, claimed they became intimate in the school’s storeroom, and she told him after that she had cheated on her new boyfriend with him.

This upset him before he choked her and stabbed her four times. He aimed for her major arteries, intending to kill her.

After confirming she had no pulse, he concealed her body in the back of the storeroom, dragging it across the floor.

Upon returning to his first aid duties, he planted her cellphone in a bakkie parked in the lot — a deliberate attempt to mislead searchers and divert police investigation away from himself.

Joining the search himself, he watched as police were called to the scene. Authorities recovered the victim's cellphone and eventually discovered her body in the storeroom. Days later, when police interviewed him as the last person seen with her, he confessed to what had happened.