A Brooklyn woman is seeking justice for her nephew who was shot dead at the weekend.
Twenty-three-year-old Heinrich Korunner’s body was found early Sunday morning, Mother’s Day in Kings Road, a few metres from his house.
He was hunched over on his hands and knees in a pool of blood. It looked like he was crawling, said Elize Saayman, a neighbour who was one of the first people on the scene.
On Monday, a memorial service was held for Heinrich who would have celebrated his 24th birthday next week.
His aunt, Katriena Heald, believes he was crawling back to her. She had raised him since he was 6 and loved him as her own.
“He was such a decent child. He was never rude. He really was my child,” she said.
She speaks outside, her voice drowned out by the church hymns inside the packed house.
Family and friends pour in to show their support.
Heinrich’s cousin and closest friend, Jethro van Wyk, said they had seen each other every day.
They had enjoyed partying and clubbing but had never been involved with gangsterism, he said.
Heinrich had gone to a night club in Koeberg Road on Saturday night.
According to information his aunt and Ms Saayman have gleaned from word on the street, Heinrich went to a park close to his home after leaving the club.
They don’t know where he was shot, but Ms Saayman said she had followed the blood trail to Poole Street.
“Someone I spoke to who lives in that street said they heard three shots go off that night,” said Ms Saayman.
Ms Heald said an autopsy still had to be done, but the morgue had confirmed a gunshot wound to Heinrich’s head.
She walks to the spot where he was found. The blood was washed away with bleach that has left white stains on the tar.
“There was so much blood. Thick blood in a cap he was wearing. I started screaming I couldn’t look at him,” said Ms Heald.
“He was still warm when I found him,” said Ms Saayman.
Across the street, Ms Saayman put up a cross with Heinrich’s name and the date he died.
Although an investigation still has to take place, Ms Heald suspects gangsters in the area had something to do with Heinrich’s death.
“Some people believe they are God in this community. Nothing ever happens to them or cases opened. But God will expose who did this. I forgive the person because I don’t want to hold a grudge in my heart, but God will expose everything,” she said.
Cheryl Castle chairwoman of the Brooklyn Ysterplaat Neighbourhood Watch extended their sympathy to Heinrich’s family.
“No one deserves to have their life prematurely ripped away from them,” said Ms Castle.
Milnerton police did not comment by the time this edition went to print.
