WINDHOEK -The man who is accused of killing a four-year-old boy he cared for as his own son, after he heard rumours that he is not the biological father, testified yesterday that his neighbour was the one who is responsible for the boy’s death.

Simon Muno Reeves Dawid testified before Windhoek High Court Judge Nate Ndauendapo that he saw Joel Nando Shiimi pick up the boy, Athanosius Katholo Reeves Simbo, but did not have a firm hold on him and the boy slipped out of his hands and fell to the ground on his right side. 

According to the 48-year old Dawid, he returned home with the boy at around 10h00 on the night in question and when he arrived at the yard he shared with Shiimi, he saw that the latter’s lights were still on. He, however, went inside his house and went to lay on his bed, leaving the boy in the sitting room, Dawid narrated to the court. 

While he was laying on his bed, he heard the door to his house open and then saw Shiimi pick up the boy, but did not hold him properly and then saw the boy fall to the ground, Dawid said. 

He further said that he then got up from the bed and saw Shiimi leaving the house in a hurry and in the process locking the door from the outside. When he got to the boy, he asked him what happened and the boy told him “it was Shiimi papa, it was Shiimi”. According to the accused, when he tried to pick up the boy, he said that he had pain on his right side and that he then just sat with the boy “in shock”. Dawid further said that he did not see Shiimi, nor his girlfriend at his window as they testified, but only saw Leena Nangula Haipinge after she called his name three times. After the third time, he got up and unlocked the door and that was when he saw Shiimi with a lot of police officers coming his way. 

He further told the court that he was not asked anything by the police, but only told to get onto the van which he did and he was then taken to the police station where he was locked up. Only the next morning, he said, was he removed from the cells and taken to an office where a female officer introduced herself as Nambahu and told him the boy is dead and she is charging him with murder. He then decided to just remain quiet and tell his story to his lawyer or to the court and that is what he was doing, he said. 

During Shiimi’s testimony, however, it came to light that Dawid’s instructions to his lawyer differed from what he informed the court yesterday. Mbanga Siyomunji who is representing Dawid on instructions of Legal Aid told Shiimi during cross-examination that his instructions are that Dawid and the boy were in different rooms when he heard a commotion. 

When he enquired from the boy what happened he was told that Shiimi pushed him from a “high position” and he hurt his right side. Shiimi disputed this and said the accused is just shifting blame. He was adamant that he saw the accused lift the boy and smash his head against the floor.

The state is alleging that Dawid killed the boy by hitting and throwing him on the ground and against the wall of his residence, killing him due to blunt force trauma to the head.
The trial continues today and Dawid is out on  warning. The state is represented by Advocate Erich Moyo.