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Reeva Steenkamp’s Death Mourned By Family On Her 32nd Birthday As Oscar Pistorius Stays In Prison Despite Earlier Reports Of Release

By Jean Mendoza
Published on: 20:22 PST, Aug 19, 2015

Reeva Steenkamp would have been 32-years-old on August 19, but her life was cut short when she was shot to death by her boyfriend, Oscar Pistorius, on Valentine’s Day in 2013.

All Steenkamp’s family has are memories of the South African model, as they pay tribute to her on her birthday. A small group of family and friends gathered to remember Reeva by visiting Summerstrand beach, one of her favorite places and where her ashes were scattered. Family and friends scattered rose petals into the ocean.

Reeva Steenkamp’s death and the trial of Oscar Pistorius have been hard for the Reeva’s family, but on her birthday, her mother June said that they would rather focus on their daughter than on Pistorius’ release from prison, as the Daily Mail UK reports. In addition, the Steenkamps also released a picture of their daughter smiling directly at the camera. It was taken when she was just 14-years-old.

As previously reported by the Inquistir, Oscar Pistorius will be released on Friday, not even serving a year for Reeva Steenkamp’s death. However, new reports indicate that Pistorius will remain in prison.

Oscar Pistorius admitted to killing Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013 after he said he had mistaken her for an intruder in their home. The Paralympian shot four times into their bathroom, only to find that it was Reeva behind the door and not an intruder. Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison.

When news of Pistorius’ release broke out, it sparked outrage as he has not even spent a year in prison for the killing of Reeva Steenkamp. However, the Mirror reports that Justice Minister Michael Masutha released a statement saying that Pistorius won’t be released.

The issue is that the parole board had decided to grant Oscar Pistorius’ release even before he spent a sixth of his five-year sentence in jail, which is required by law in order to have the chance of parole.

“It is therefore clear that there is no legal basis upon which such a decision was made… one sixth of a five years sentence is 10 months and at the time the decision was made Mr Pistorius had served only over six months of his sentence.”

Pistorius’ family, who expected Oscar to be with them and free on Friday, said that they accept the minister’s decision, but they will be looking at other options.

Meanwhile, the Steenkamps released a statement via the Daily Mail through their lawyer, Tanya Koen.

“June has always had faith in the justice system and perhaps the petition [opposing Pistorius’ release] and all the South Africans and other people around the world may have made the difference.”

However, Koen cleared that June “can never be happy at someone else’s expense.”

“But perhaps the fact that this has happened on Reeva’s birthday is justice for Reeva after all.”

Reeva Steenkamp began modelling at 14-years-old. However, the model also had the brains to back up her good looks and worked as a paralegal. She was hoping to be a qualified legal advocate at the age of 30, but that didn’t happen as her life was taken by Oscar Pistorius when she was just 29-years-old. Steenkamp was also an advocate for women suffering domestic violence.

[Image via Celebrity Base]

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