'Her time on earth is done': a mother's grief after fatal shooting of daughter, 14, by teen boy in Cape Town

“She always made everybody smile, she was a jolly person.” 

This is how grieving Fadeema Marshall remembers her 14-year-old daughter Naeema, who was fatally shot on Monday during a visit to her aunt’s home in Eerste River, Cape Town. 

Police confirmed the alleged shooter, arrested a day later, is a 14-year-old boy. 

The motive is under investigation and the case is being handled by the anti-gang unit, said police spokesperson Capt FC van Wyk. 

Naeema was the youngest of five children and attended Beacon Valley High School in Mitchells Plain. She was a jovial person who stood up for herself, her mother told TimesLIVE on Wednesday. Naeema was a popular netball player.   

“For me, her time on earth is done. The things she did meant a lot to everybody, she always made everybody smile, she was a jolly person,” she added.

The teen’s father and siblings were also struggling to come to terms with her death. 

Mitchells Plain community policing forum deputy chair Veranique Williams, who has known the Marshall family for several years, said Naeema’s death had traumatised her friends as it happened the day before schools reopened.

Naeema’s janazah (funeral) took place on Tuesday. 

Williams said Naeema had served her community and previously helped to search for missing people in the area. 

Western Cape police oversight and community safety MEC Reagen Allen on Wednesday described the shooting as “extremely upsetting”. 

“The manner in which our children are losing their lives is unacceptable and this has to stop. A life is now lost and none of her dreams or aspirations will be achieved ... It is deeply horrifying that the alleged shooter is a 14-year old boy. Regrettably, he would have to face the consequences,” he said.

“I have a myriad of questions, particularly around how a child this age has access to a firearm? It would be important that the persons who provided the firearm to the boy are also arrested and convicted.” 

TimesLIVE