JOHANNESBURG - Tiffany Meek, the 31-year-old accused of murdering her 11-year-old son, Jayden-Lee, has denied any involvement in his death and intends pleading not guilty.
She faces charges of murder, defeating or obstructing the ends of justice, and crimen injuria.
Jayden-Lee’s lifeless body was discovered on a staircase inside their apartment block in Fleurhof in May, just hours after his mother had reported him missing.
Two months later, police arrested her for his murder.
During proceedings, Meek’s lawyer read out her affidavit, in which she questioned her arrest.
‘I fail to understand why I am being charged when I was the one asking police for answers and doing everything I could to help find those responsible,’ her affidavit read.
I panicked when he didn’t come home
Recounting the day of her son’s disappearance, Meek says scholar transport would drop Jayden-Lee off between 3pm and 4pm.
But on 13 May, he failed to return home.
“At that time, I was chatting with my mother and informed her that Jayden hadn’t come home. I asked her to contact the driver because I had no airtime,” Meek said.
The driver allegedly told them Jayden-Lee had been dropped off at around 2:45pm
Meek says she started panicking when hours passed without any sign of her son.
She says she asked the day-shift security guard who said he hadn’t seen Jayden-Lee enter the complex.
"It was the night shift guard who lives in the complex who confirmed that he had seen Jayden enter the complex and did not exit. We also confirmed with the child who was dropped off after Jayden, and he confirmed that he saw him enter the complex,” she says.
Meek says they went to the police to report the matter, but claim they weren’t efficient in assisting.
‘The next morning at 6:50am, I got a call from the scholar transport that Jayden had been found at 6am. But nobody called the police, ambulance, or tried to rush him to hospital. He could have still been alive,’ Meek says.
Bloody items found
Investigators found blood inside the flat Tiffany occupied with Jayden-Lee.
But Meek disputes this.
‘I was informed that his school bag, uniform, blood-stained underwear and bed sheets with his blood were found on 16 May 2025. It is highly unlikely that the police would not have seen or found these items, as they alleged on 14 May. Further, I am confident that the moment Jayden's blood-soaked clothes was found, I would have been arrested immediately and not almost two months later by the police’.
Her bail application is expected to continue at the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court on Monday.