Kenneth and Mariam Barnes could not understand why their grandson had spent days staring at a particular spot in their backyard.
On Monday, the reason became clear.
“He [allegedly] told me that he had buried his girlfriend in our backyard,” grandfather Barnes said.
“We were horrified.”
The gruesome murder of 15-year-old Sinthia Williams — several months pregnant at the time of her death, according to her family — has stunned Kariega residents.
That her 19-year-old boyfriend has allegedly confessed to not only killing her, but disposing of her body in a shallow grave only metres from his grandparents’ back door, is beyond anyone’s imagination.
The man will appear in the Kariega magistrate’s court on Friday.
“The suspect handed himself over to police last night [Wednesday] and pointed out that he buried her in the garden at his home in Bauhinia Crescent,” police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge said.
“Police then found her body in a shallow grave at that premises and the suspect was subsequently arrested for her murder.”
For 10 days, Sinthia’s remains lay concealed beneath the dirt at the house in Bauhinia Crescent in the suburb of Thomas Gamble until the man, who cannot be named until he has appeared in court, allegedly confessed to his grandparents.
His grandparents’ horror is compounded by the fact that he even took part in searches for the teen mother-to-be after she was reported missing, and that he had allegedly told Sinthia’s parents he was worried that he could not find her.
The last time Sinthia’s family saw her was on the evening of Sunday October 10.
She had been speaking to her boyfriend, they said.
When she had not returned home after a few days, they frantically started asking neighbours and other residents if they had seen her.
On Monday, her parents reported her missing at the Kamesh police station.
As search parties looked for the teenager, Barnes and his wife noticed their grandson crying a lot, always at the same place in their backyard.
“I kept asking him what was wrong,” Barnes said.
However, even after the man allegedly confessed, they waited two days to alert the police, who arrested the man at the house on Wednesday.
This was because of his allegedly violent nature.
“My wife and I decided to contact his father and then the police.
“We are all very traumatised at what happened.”
Mariam said they were devastated by their grandson’s [alleged] actions.
“As a mother, my heart breaks for Sinthia’s family.
“She used to frequent our home during the span of their two-year relationship,” Mariam said.
A Herald team was present at Sinthia’s family home on Thursday when her mother, Jolande Palmer, received the heartbreaking news from her husband, Charlie, that he had positively identified his stepdaughter’s remains at the mortuary.
“Please tell me that it’s not true. Please, I beg of you ... please tell me that she is not dead,” she said, weeping.
“This can’t be happening, not my child. Please Lord, not my Sinthia.”
Jolande was consoled by family members and concerned residents, who came to offer their condolences.
The moment was too surreal and she expected her daughter to walk through the door at any moment, she said.
Charlie said on the way to the mortuary he had prayed that it would not be Sinthia’s body.
When the police started digging at the Bauhinia Crescent home on Wednesday night, he stood in the street saying that same prayer.
“Today is one of the worst days that this family has ever experienced.
“How do we make sense of this terrible tragedy?
“Our child was murdered and he [referring to Sinthia’s boyfriend] had the audacity to come over here while she was missing, knowing full well what he had [allegedly] done,” Charlie said.
A source close to the investigation said Barnes was asleep at 2am on October 11 when he was awoken by a loud noise inside the house.
When he opened his bedroom door, Sinthia was running so fast she knocked him over.
His grandson was hot on her heels, the source said.
It is alleged that Sinthia was stabbed and then dragged back into the suspect’s bedroom.
When Barnes went to the suspect’s room the morning after, the room was empty.
Later that day, his grandson told him that Sinthia was fine and he had walked with her halfway to her home.
The source said when the grandson allegedly confessed on Monday, Barnes had initially kept quiet because he feared him.
The suspect allegedly relayed the same story to his father on Wednesday and a decision was taken to turn him in.
Sinthia’s family said they knew something was amiss because she never stayed away from home for more than a day.
She also always told them where she was going.
According to the family, they had disapproved of the couple’s relationship from the outset because the boyfriend had served time in jail previously.
Barnes said he’d had his grandson arrested previously when he robbed him and his wife of their pension money.
That was when he was sentenced to a prison term.
They say their grandson changed drastically when he allegedly became hooked on drugs and befriended the wrong people in 2015.
All their attempts to keep him on the straight and narrow proved futile.
“He was going down the wrong path,” Barnes said.
“If he was not arrested now he would have been killed out here in these streets.”
Acting Nelson Mandela Bay district police commissioner Brigadier Tandiswa Kupiso strongly condemned the murder, adding that the rights of women and children needed to be protected by all members of the community.
“All crimes violating those rights will remain one of the key focus areas of the SA Police Service and no stone will be left unturned to bring those perpetrators before court to answer for their crimes.”
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