Less than six months after she was denied bail after she allegedly made a startling confession to police about how she had murdered her boyfriend’s nine-year-old daughter with a shoelace, Lesley-Ann Damon appeared briefly in the Gqeberha high court on Monday.
Damon, 25, is accused of the premeditated murder of Quinisha Sebrandt, who she allegedly strangled with a shoelace at Maitland Beach on March 28.
Her case was postponed to Tuesday, after she successfully applied for Legal Aid SA representation.
She will now be represented by advocate Johan van der Spuy.
It is believed she will plead guilty to the murder.
In April, Damon was denied bail in the city’s magistrate’s court.
At the time, magistrate Kriban Pillay said it was in the interest of justice to keep Damon behind bars.
In his findings, Pillay said it seemed the state had a strong case against Damon and there was a strong likelihood she would be convicted.
During the bail application, Damon submitted an affidavit in which she claimed to have been emotionally traumatised after opting to abort her pregnancy.
She was apparently pregnant with Quinisha’s father, Quinton Goodman’s, baby and had allegedly aborted the baby to keep him happy.
On March 28, Damon had collected Quinisha from Goodman’s Bethelsdorp home and told him she was taking her for a haircut in Cleary Park.
They, however, ended up at Maitland Beach where Quinisha went for a swim in the sea.
In her confession to police, she allegedly said that while Quinisha was swimming, she took the shoelaces from her takkies and when the child came back to shore she wrapped the shoelace around her neck and strangled her until she stopped breathing.
She then went to report what had happened to the police and allegedly gave a full confession.
HeraldLIVE
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