Family of toddler Orderick Lucas faces child abuse charges in court
The case of slain Orderick Lucas takes a new twist as his mother and grandparents appear in the Blue Downs Magistrate's Court on child abuse charges, raising serious questions about child welfare and the tragic circumstances surrounding the toddler's death.
Image: Chevon Booysen
In a troubling development, Davidene Lucas, the mother of slain toddler Orderick Lucas, appeared alongside her parents, Cornelia and Devon Scheepers, at the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, facing serious charges of child abuse.
The trio made a brief court appearance on Thursday morning, where they were informed of the charges against them and are set to plead at their next court date on March 23.
During 2019, one-year-old Orderick had gone missing on March 25, 2019. His body was found in a stormwater drain by a group of children playing with a ball when the ball rolled into the drain.
The gruesome discovery was made eight days after Orderick was reported missing. His body was found covered in maggots and in an advanced state of decomposition.
Slain Orderick Lucas’s body was found in a stormwater drain in 2019.
Image: File
Lucas and her co-accused are out on warning while they face the charge.
The new development in relation to the murder of the toddler comes five years after Melvin Volkwyn was slapped with a 20-year sentence, during September 2021 after being convicted of the murder.
During the criminal trial against Volkwyn, gruesome details of child abuse and neglect were heard when self-confessed drug addict Lucas admitted that she had blown mandrax smoke in her child’s face as it would “help him sleep” and admitted that after she learnt that four of Orderick’s teeth had been extracted with a pair of pliers she did not take him to a doctor.
Melvin Volkwyn was slapped with a 20 year prison sentence, during September 2021 having been convicted of the murder of toddler Orderick Lucas. Grandma Cornelia Scheepers and mom Davedine Lucas.
Image: File
Also during the criminal trial, the court heard that Orderick and two of his siblings were placed into the care of Cornelia and Devon, taken from his mother’s care by social services.
The guardian care placement followed a social worker’s investigation into the safety of the children after Orderick had a broken arm which the mother could not provide a satisfactory explanation for, sores around his mouth and Lucas’s drug abuse.
Lucas had told the social worker she assumed Orderick fell over a wooden log at the entrance of their home.
However, in a different version to the high court, Lucas said the toddler’s arm was fractured while he was left in the care of Volkwyn.
During Volkwyn’s criminal trial, defence witnesses, however, testified that the toddler’s arm had fractured after she fell with the child while being drug intoxicated.
Barely two months before his disappearance and death, Orderick and his siblings were placed into his maternal grandparents' care on January 8 2019 following an order of a Children’s Court.
While expressly forbidden by the court order, the children occasionally spent weekends with Lucas instead of being with their grandparents.
Get your news on the go, click here to join the Cape Argus News WhatsApp channel.
Cape Argus