THE Elsies River community is preparing to say goodbye to 13-year-old Daylin Adams, a Grade 5 learner at Valhalla Primary School, who was shot and killed protecting his three-year-old cousin<\/p>\n
The full-of-life youngster, remembered for his infectious smile and big dreams, was killed on Sunday night by unknown gunmen in a vehicle he was travelling home with his uncle and three cousins after collecting pizza in Goodwood.<\/p>\n
According to the family, Daylin had been travelling with his uncle and three cousins aged two, three and 18 when gunfire erupted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Daylin, who had been seated in the front of the vehicle, reportedly leaned over toward his younger cousin seated at the back in an apparent attempt to protect him.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old cousin was also wounded in the shooting but managed to pull the two-year-old child from the vehicle and carry the toddler onto a nearby field for safety.<\/p>\n
Despite being shot through the face, the uncle managed to drive the vehicle back home. It was only once they arrived that the family realised Daylin had been struck by a bullet.<\/p>\n
He was declared dead on the scene.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Weekend Argus, Daylin\u2019s devastated mother, Lucille Adams, recalled the unimaginable moment she learnt her eldest son had been killed.<\/p>\n
Lucille said she had been eagerly awaiting a reunion with her son after being released on bail on Monday while awaiting trial on drug-related charges. She was arrested on Christmas Eve 2025, the last time she saw her son.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI was so excited to see him. I heard he wanted to save his Sassa money to bail me out. I wanted to surprise him, hug him, let him know that I am home, then they told me what happened,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Fighting back tears, Lucille described Daylin as a child with endless ambition and a heart full of love.<\/p>\n
Lucille said Daylin had dreamed of becoming a welder, a firefighter and a soccer player.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cHe was such a positive child, he never hanged out with the wrong crowd, he dreamt big, he wanted better.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like a piece of me was ripped out of my soul. No mother should ever feel this pain, it\u2019s unbearable.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was just a child, he was just a baby, he was not a gangster.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He did not deserve this, he deserves to live. I know people will say he\u2019s in a better place, I know he is, but I want him back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI miss him, I miss his morning kisses, his constant hanging on me, I was looking forward to that again. I will miss his energy, how he would tell me he loves me and when I say it back that face he would pull.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I could tell him for one last time how much I love him. I just want justice for my baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
The circumstances surrounding the shooting are still under investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE Elsies River community is preparing to say goodbye to 13-year-old Daylin Adams, a Grade 5 learner at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[52],"tags":[129839,129837,129836,6585,129835,129834,1363,29914,8554,129833,129828,3542,129832,52878,102304,129829,129831,20773,131,129838,29910,129830,29907],"class_list":["post-255849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-south-africa","tag-gangsterismmustfall","tag-boy-killed","tag-boy-shot","tag-child","tag-child-murder-cape-town","tag-child-murders","tag-crime","tag-crime-and-court","tag-crime-and-courts","tag-daylin","tag-daylin-adams","tag-elsies-river","tag-franchesca-walker","tag-goodwood","tag-https-capeargus-co-za-weekend-argus","tag-lucille-adams","tag-michael-papier","tag-sassa","tag-south-africa","tag-teen-killed","tag-tracy-lynn-ruitersinl-co-za","tag-valhalla-primary-school","tag-weekend-argus"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/116649241100368810","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}