The 32-year-old woman accused of killing her 11-year-old son in May last year has maintained that she is innocent and played no role in the murder.
Tiffany Meek made a brief appearance in the high court in Johannesburg on Wednesday, on charges of murder, defeating the ends of justice and crimen injuria related to the murder of her son, Jayden-Lee. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Meek told the court, “I deny having any knowledge about how my child was brought into this tragic death”, adding that she intended to use the trial to “vindicate” herself and uncover the truth.
The court heard that the boy was reported missing on the evening of May 13 2025, after he failed to return home from school. His body was found the next morning on a stairway at the residential complex where they lived.
In a detailed plea explanation presented to the court, Meek denied any involvement in her son’s death and maintained that the state’s case was based largely on circumstantial evidence.
She argued that there was “no direct evidence” linking her to the alleged crimes and that the inferences drawn by the prosecution were not the only reasonable conclusions.
According to formal admissions read into the record, the child was declared dead on arrival at the hospital, with the cause of death determined to be consistent with blunt force head injuries.
Meek told the court she had spent the afternoon and evening attempting to find her son, contacting transport officials, family members and eventually the police.
She described escalating concern as hours passed without his return, before opening a missing person’s case.
Meek told the court she was the sole caregiver of her son and was responsible for his daily needs. She said she had a romantic partner who visited intermittently, with his last visit taking place on May 10 2025.
The matter was postponed to June 11 and 12 at the Johannesburg high court sitting in Palm Ridge, after the state requested a postponement to begin leading witnesses, with both parties agreeing on the available court dates.
TimesLIVE
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