Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius
Gallo Images/REX USA
June Steenkamp, in an interview with the Times newspaper of South Africa, wonders "Why did he do this? … She loved like no one else could love. Just like that, she is gone."
Pistorius's agent, Pete van Zyl, visited him in jail over the weekend and told PEOPLE it was too early to determine what the charges might mean for the star's running career. He would not comment on the case and said he was there to lend support to Pistorius and update him on sponsorship, contracts and future races.
"I can tell you that we have had overwhelming support from Oscar from a lot of fans on a global scale, really on a global scale. South African fans, international fans from literally all over the world," van Zyl told PEOPLE. "He knows it. I have given him that message."
Meanwhile, new details continue to emerge surrounding Steenkamp's death. Citing a police official close to the case, CNN reports that Steenkamp, 30, was shot through the bathroom door inside Pistorius's house.
She reportedly also was alive after the shooting, with Pistorius carrying her downstairs in a frantic effort to save her life. Local media in his hometown of Pretoria have reported that Pistorius, 26, thought Steenkamp was an intruder and shot her by accident.
Monday's Today show reported that Pistorius called friends around 4 a.m. the day of the shooting to ask for help, telling them there had been a terrible accident and that Steenkamp had been shot. (Neighbors who had reportedly heard commotion at the Olympian's home, called police.)
Reuters, citing an eyewitness account published in the Sunday Argus of a paramedic on the scene, said Steenkamp was already dead when he arrived.
The reports said she had been shot once in the head and in the arm, where the bullet broke the bone, and was lying at the bottom of the stairs wearing a black sweatshirt and long pants, but without shoes. When told she could not be revived, Pistorius began to cry, the medic said.
Through his agent, Pistorius has rejected any suggestion that Steenkamp was murdered. The couple had been dating since November. Her publicist told Today that the couple had "seemed happy."
Prosecutors said on Friday that they planned to pursue a charge of premeditated murder. If convicted on that charge, Pistorius would face life in prison.
Pistorius' father, Henke Pistorius, told the Sunday Telegraph that his family thinks the shooting was an accident based on their son's thinking Steenkamp was an intruder inside his home.
"When you are a sportsman, you act even more on instinct," said Henke Pistorius. "It's instinct – things happen and that's what you do."
Reeva Steenkamp's Mom Wants Answers: 'Why My Little Girl?'
This article
Reeva Steenkamp's Mom Wants Answers: 'Why My Little Girl?'
can be opened in url
http://newscachalot.blogspot.com/2013/02/reeva-steenkamp-mom-wants-answers-my.html
Reeva Steenkamp's Mom Wants Answers: 'Why My Little Girl?'
