Orderick Lucas: Toddler's teeth were ripped out by pliers as his maggot-infested body found in a drain
Orderick Lucas' tragic death is a spine-chilling reminder of the failure of the child protection system,.
Just hours before he went missing on the night of March 24, 2019, from his home in Cape Town, South Africa, he was reportedly eating his last meal. His severely decomposing body was found in a drain days later on April 2. According to reports, Melvin Volkwyn, a friend of Lucas' mother Davedine Lucas, is on trial for Orderick's murder. But Volkwyn denies killing the toddler and will present his defense in April as the trial continues.
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Orderick's maggot-infested body was discovered in a storm drain by children playing on April 1. According to local reports, his teeth were ripped out by pliers and his body was very badly decomposed. Authorities suspected foul play since Orderick's arm was broken a few months before his death.
According to reports, Davedine had left her son in the care of Eon Adams on March 24, 2019.
Adams testified that Volkwyn had taken the child when he left his houses that night. According to reports, over the last week, Western Cape High Court heard that the accused allegedly pulled out the Orderick’s teeth with pliers. The child's mother Davedine admitted under oath that she blew mandrax fumes into the child’s face when he annoyed her. At the time of his death, his mother did not have custody of any of her four children. Him and his twin brothers were placed in the custody of their grandmother Cornelia Scheepers. The mother had lost custody of her children because of her drug abuse.
According to a report carried in The Sun, Davedine testified that Orderick was left with Volkwyn while she went to buy drugs. When Volkwyn took Lucas away, he said, "he was going to take the child to Davedine's mother", Adams reportedly said. When he didn't return, she filed a missing report on a Thursday and said that Volkwyn had told her on Monday that he had dropped her son at Scheepers' but when she visited her mother three days later, she discovered that he never showed up.
In addition to that, she denies getting her son back from Volkwyn or giving him permission to take him from Adams' home.
According to the latest report, a state witness testified that she had seen Volkwyn "dragging a suitcase" the day after the toddler had gone missing. "He was dragging a black case, with wheels and I said the bag is heavy. As he walked, he rested every few minutes because of the bag," Rugaya Gerhardus testified. "He kept walking, I saw him turn down Muller Street (in Melton Rose). Not too long after, he came back past me but without the case."
While she said that she could not be sure what was in the suitcase, Gerhardus said that "it could not have been clothes because it looked heavy".
According to reports, the matter was postponed until April 12, 2021, for the defence to put their case forward.