The teen, who was 17 years old at the time of the murder, confessed to murdering Deveney in a school storeroom.
A grieving mother’s emotional victim impact statement described the pain her daughter’s death has caused her after a fellow pupil murdered her.
The pupil, now 18 years old, was sentenced to 25 years’ direct imprisonment for the 2024 murder of 16-year-old Deveney Nel by the Western Cape High Court on Friday.
The court handed him an additional 12 months for the attempt to defeat the ends of justice, which will run concurrently to the murder term.
He entered into a plea sentence agreement, confessing that he stabbed the Grade 10 pupil multiple times in a storeroom at Hoërskool Overberg, Caledon, and attempted to hide her body.
‘The most painful pain’
Deveney’s mother, Lida Nel, said the teen’s actions have changed her life forever and described the pain as unimaginable.
“As a person, I have lost my husband – the person I chose to love and spend my life with – and my father – one of the people who have loved me since my birth – to death, but giving up or losing your daughter (or child) to another’s hand is the most painful pain that can exist in a parent’s life,” Lida said in her statement submitted to the court.
She added that her younger daughter, Jamie, lost a piece of her past and the future they had imagined together, and that Deveney’s death left a void that cannot be filled.
The loss of her daughter, Lida said, has not only brought her whole life to a standstill but has also influenced her whole life.
“You are dependent on sleeping pills because when you don’t take any medication, you simply don’t sleep; your brain doesn’t shut down and relax after a workday for rest and sleep, which means you are not fully rested the next day.”
“It affects the interaction and relationships you have with people, whether colleagues, friends, or family. It’s as if your emotional cup is overflowing, and it becomes too much for you every day… I don’t think you can ever function ‘normally’ again and move on after something like that … I know I am struggling a lot and don’t know if I will ever be okay again.”
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She described her daughter as a phenomenal person who was gentle, loving, helpful, and full of empathy, and always puts other people’s feelings above her own.
Teen details the murder
In his own account, the then 17-year-old pupil stabbed Deveney twice in the neck and twice in the chest after they became intimate in the storeroom on 7 August 2024.
The two pupils were on first aid duties during a sports event at the school, where he was a qualified level 3 advanced first aid emergency responder and a senior member of the school’s first aid team.
He claimed that he requested Deveney’s help at the netball court, and they eventually ended up in the storeroom, the last place she was seen alive.
The schoolboy told the court that he became upset after Deveney disclosed to him that she had cheated on her new boyfriend with him and that he was unaware that she was in a relationship.
He said he throttled her, and she became weak and fell to the ground.
The court heard that he took out a knife that he had in his jacket pocket and stabbed her in the neck and chest. He aimed for her major arteries, intending to cause her death.
Deveney fought back and then just became still, the court heard. When he was done, she showed no signs of life, as he had checked her pulse.
He said he decided to hide her body in the back part of the storeroom and pulled her body along the floor.
He then took her cellphone as he returned to his first aid duties and put it in the back of a bakkie in the parking lot.
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The court heard that he did this to mislead people and the police, as he knew they would be looking for her soon.
A search for Deveney
National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said Deveney was supposed to get a lift home with the boy’s mother, and people started looking for her when she didn’t show up.
“He assisted in the search for her,” Ntabazalila said. “Police were contacted; they arrived and joined the search. The deceased’s cellphone was recovered and handed over to the police.”
Ntabazalila said Deveney’s body was later found in the storeroom where he had left her.
“He went home, and a few days later, the police interviewed him, as he was the last person to be seen with her before she went missing. He decided to tell the police what had happened.”
The boy’s mother was present when he confessed.
As part of his sentence, the court declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
‘Justice for the victims’
Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Nicolette Bell welcomed the sentence.
“The accused has been sentenced in accordance with the applicable legal framework. In terms of the law, 25 years’ imprisonment is the maximum sentence the court could impose in this case,” Bell said.
“I am pleased that we have finalised this matter and hope that this sentence provides some closure for Deveney’s mother and her family. Gender-based violence and femicide have no place in our society, and it is for this reason that my office will continue to vigorously prosecute such cases to ensure justice for victims.”
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