Update
MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The family of Ricardo Petersen (36), the man whom Lutho Gaveni fatally stabbed in JCC Camp in September 2024, said they feel Gaveni deserves more than just 13 years behind bars.
The Thembalethu Regional Court in George found Gaveni guilty of Petersen’s murder on 20 November last year and sentenced him to 13 years’ direct imprisonment on 28 January.
The court also ruled that Gaveni was unfit to possess a firearm. Petersen’s sister, Mariska, said their family, friends and the community at large are unhappy with the sentence.
“We lost a father, a brother, a son, a friend and a colleague. We will never be able to go and talk to him.
“We just have a gravesite. Lutho’s mother can still go and visit him in prison and talk to him over the phone,” said Mariska.
Ricardo Petersen. Photo: Supplied
“Ricardo was such a good person, a real people’s person. He was the breadwinner for his mother and his son, Ethan, who was only 19 years old when his father was killed. Ethan does not have a mum or a dad now, and my mother has a disability, so it has been a real struggle to put food on the table without him.
“There is not a single day that goes by that I don’t think of him.”
Mariska said while she was unhappy with the prison sentence, she and her family were satisfied with the Da Gamaskop Police’s work on the case.
“I felt they did the work they were supposed to, and the investigation was solid,” she said.
“I know the court ruled on a 13-year sentence, but I feel it should have considered the youth outside of prison. Will another mother lose their son, too, when Gaveni is released? We were not able to travel to Thembalethu for the sentencing, because it is far and transport is expensive, but when I found out, and told my mum, she just cried. Ricardo was her firstborn and her only son.”
Should anyone wish to contact Mariska regarding support for her mother, contact her on 084 010 6038.
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