Police constable Ashwin Pedro was murdered in December 2022.
- The court sentenced police killer Denzil October to an effective 30 years in prison.
- October had three previous convictions.
- The Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions welcomed the sentence.
A cop killer who snuffed out the life of Constable Ashwin Pedro will spend three decades behind bars.
Denzil October, 44, fatally shot Pedro, who, with his colleague, Constable Theodore Henry, had responded to a call about a man carrying a gun in the Grassy Park area in December 2022.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said October was handed an effective 30-year sentence by the Khayelitsha Priority Crimes Court on Friday.
October, who entered a plea and sentencing agreement with the State, was sentenced to 30 years for murder, eight years for robbery, five years for attempted murder, 15 years for illegal firearm possession, and two years for unlawful ammunition possession.
On the day he was killed, Pedro tried to disarm October, asking him to raise his hands. However, he refused and grabbed what appeared to be a gun from his back.
Henry intervened.
“[He] grabbed [October’s] right hand and attempted to restrain him, but he resisted and grabbed Constable Henry’s firearm with such force that it detached from its safety retention cord,” Ntabazalila said.
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“After ripping off the firearm from Constable Henry’s holster, [October] started to run away with the two officers in hot pursuit. He started shooting at them, fatally wounding Constable Pedro.”
October was later arrested at his home in Ravensmead, where police recovered Henry’s gun, including an empty magazine, in a Wendy house at the back of the main house.
Ntabazalila said October had three previous convictions for robbery, common assault, housebreaking with intent to assault, attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm.
Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions Nicolette Bell welcomed the sentence and hailed Pedro as a soldier who had died with his boots on.
News24 previously reported that Pedro’s father, Melvin Pedro, described his eldest son as a well-mannered person who loved to sing and shared a special bond with his mother.
“He had a [singing] voice of an angel, and it’s still very hard to process that his voice will no longer be heard in the house anymore. We miss him already. Nothing will ever be the same again for us,” he said after his son’s murder.
Melvin had been watching TV when his wife, Lynette, received a call to inform the family about the shooting. He rushed to the police station, where an officer took him to the scene where his bloodied son lay.