Rosemary Davids and her partner, Lee Mark Mouton.
- Rosemary Davidus was murdered in her home last Sunday.
- Her partner, 29-year-old Lee Mark Mouton, is accused of her murder.
- Dawids will be laid to rest next weekend.
“We are devastated and don’t know what life is like without our daughter, the apple of our eye,” said the parents of slain nursery school principal Rosemary Dawoods.
Davidis, 37, was found dead in her bed at Visantikral near Durbanville in the Western Cape last Sunday.
Davidus was covered in blood and “cold as ice” when her parents found her in their home after receiving a frenzied call from her sister, Mircia Platjes, who lives next door.
Her parents, Sarah and Adam Dowds, say their daughter’s partner of two years called Platjes last Sunday to inform her that Rosemary “died in her bed.”
Platjes urged her parents to rush home because Rosemary was not breathing.
The parents say they cannot come to terms with the fact that their daughter was brutally murdered just hours after leaving their home.
Sarah, 59, said they found their daughter in bed, covered in blankets, with her eyes wide open.
“It was as if she was in shock. I called her name out loud, hoping she would hear me and wake up. But she didn’t. I knew she was dead.”
Sarah said, “When I removed the blankets that covered her from her chest down, I saw blood pouring from her body. It was the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
Rosemary’s partner, Lee Mark Mouton, was at the scene and did not say a word.
“I immediately turned to him and asked him what he had done to my child. He didn’t answer. He just closed his eyes and stood with us until the police came.”
Mouton turned himself in to police on Tuesday.
According to the family, the couple had a toxic relationship which Rosemary was encouraged to end by the family, but she insisted that he would change and that they should not become involved.
“He wasn’t very nice to my child. He was aggressive and wouldn’t speak kindly to her. I’ve told her many times that I feel anxious about her being with that guy.
“A mother’s anxiety for her child’s safety never goes away, especially when they see a dangerous situation,” Sarah said.
Rosemary Davids.
Fisantekraal residents gathered in front of the Magistrates Court in Belleville on Wednesday.
Western Cape Police spokesman Warrant Officer Joseph Swartboy said Rosemary had multiple stab wounds to the body.
“The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by the medical staff. The motive for this attack is under investigation,” Swartboy said.
On Wednesday, dozens of residents headed to the Magistrates Court in Belleville, where Mouton appeared on a murder charge.
Community leader Elaine Hartzenberg said they wanted to make sure he didn’t get bail.
“We don’t want him to be released on bail. We came to the court to show our support for the family and to confirm that [alleged] The perpetrator is not wanted in our society.”
The case has been adjourned to next Tuesday.
Adam described his daughter as a “people’s person” who adored her children and her parents, and said that in the days before Rosemary’s death, she had spent a few nights at their house, apparently to escape from Mouton.
“We could see that she needed to be alone and in a good environment. But then she told us she needed to go home on Sunday as she was back at work the next day.
“She was the apple of my eye,” said Adam. “Any chance you get, you’ll spend with us.”
A grief-stricken Sarah added, “Never in a million years would we have thought that those beautiful, peaceful days with her were the last time we saw our daughter alive. We don’t know what life is like without her.”
Rosemary leaves behind two children, a 12-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son, from a previous relationship.
She will be buried next weekend.