After months of hearings, the murder trial of slain Heinz Park teen, Janika Mello, has been completed and the matter has now been postponed for arguments and judgment.
Murder accused Leeroy Rose and Allester Abraham returned to the Western Cape HIgh Court on Tuesday as the hearings concluded.
During the trial, the duo pleaded not guilty to murdering the 14-year-old meisie who was found raped and bashed to death in the backyard of her home.
Janika, who was a Grade 6 pupil at Northwood Primary School in Woodlands, went to a karaoke at Portlands High School to support a local soccer club on 31 August 2019.
The teen was later dropped off by a taxi close to her home and her half-naked body was found in her backyard the following morning.
According to crime scene photographs, cops found used condoms on the scene while the post-mortem report indicated that she had vaginal and anal injuries.
Rose turned on his co-accused and claimed he saw Abraham throw a rock at Janika’s head.
In his defence, Abraham claimed he was at home at the time of the murder and brought his ouma, Suzette Prins, who told the court that he arrived at home at about 2.30am the next day, which is reportedly the estimated time of Jan death.
Addressing the court, Judge Pearl Andrews said she was postponing the matter to 16 April for arguments and a date for the judgement will be announced.