A woman previously convicted of murder has been acquitted by the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, following the death of a five-month-old baby who sustained fatal brain injuries after her grandmother fell while carrying her.
Aletta Sonzulu appealed her conviction, stating that she never intended to harm the baby. On the day of the incident, she and her co-accused, Jamieson Phiri—who has since died—were reportedly intoxicated. The incident occurred during a graduation party at the baby’s family home, where it was raining and the ground was slippery.
According to reports, the grandmother had been carrying the baby on her back with a towel for support and a blanket covering the baby’s head. As the grandmother attempted to speak to the crowd, Sonzulu caused a disturbance. Later, while the grandmother was walking to put the baby to bed, she was pushed and fell backward onto the wet carpet laid over grass.
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The grandmother testified that she tried to protect the baby by using her arms to break the fall. However, when she stood up, the baby was bleeding from the nose and mouth. The infant was rushed to a clinic, then transferred to a hospital, where she died from severe brain injuries consistent with blunt force trauma caused by the fall.
The judge found that while Sonzulu created a disturbance and may have kicked the grandmother after the fall, it was Phiri who had pushed her. The court also concluded that there was no evidence that Sonzulu knew the grandmother was carrying a baby or that she directly harmed the child. Given the slippery conditions and lack of direct involvement, the judge ruled in Sonzulu’s favor and set aside the murder conviction.
