Durban - Dozens of Wentworth residents held a peaceful march yesterday to call for an end to violence after the murder of 17-year old Leyton Fynn.
The matric pupil was shot dead last week while walking to school to attend holiday classes.
Residents, who laid flowers at the murder scene, said the Wentworth Secondary pupil was walking along Richard Winn Road when he was killed. Wentworth police are investigating the murder.
Leyton’s mother, Gayle Franks, said the family were devastated.
“I was at work on Tuesday, and didn’t even know what took place. My family picked me up from work and I was shocked to come to Richard Winn Road and find my son lying dead on the pavement.
“Leyton was a quiet boy who only studied and wanted to complete his matric because he wanted to be an accountant. Earlier this year, he was picked to go to a camp for one week for maths and accounting.”
Franks said the family needed to know what happened.
“We are not coping. Leyton was a good boy who only went to school and church. Everybody who spoke to me after Leyton was killed have spoken so well of him; nobody had a bad thing to say about him. We are calling on police to find those responsible for this shooting, and for justice to take its course.”
Kimberley Callaghan, another family member, said the march was a call for peace and justice.
“Leyton was a good boy who didn’t deserve what happened to him. We are calling for justice for him. He was a quiet boy who wasn’t troublesome, loved his family, going to church, and was doing well in his studies.”
Callaghan said the family were shocked by the brutal nature in which he was killed.
“We would have never expected something like that to happen.
Leyton will be laid to rest this week. We haven’t confirmed all the details yet.”
Des Carey, a resident who was part of the march, said there was too much crime in the area.
“Shootings happen regularly in Wentworth. There have been so many marches like this, but it doesn’t seem to be making a difference,” he said.
Carey said he knew Leyton as a good boy.
“He was never involved in any wrongdoing; he was never part of any gangs. We need to find out who was responsible for this shooting as we can’t keep seeing our youth being killed like this.”
A resident who was part of the march and wished to remain anonymous, said the community needed to come together.
“As the community of Wentworth, we need to continually march every month because there are many mothers who have lost their children and we need to put an end to the violence in our community.
“I am a mother too and I don’t want to feel that pain that they are going through. I have children and I am coming to this march so something can be done. They can’t be robbing our communities of young lives.”