The body of former rugby player Lindani Myeni is still kept in a Honolulu mortuary, awaiting repatriation.
His wife, Lindsey, speaking to eNCA, revealed that despite a number of attempts, the South African embassy in Hawaii has yet to offer its assistance in returning Myeni’s body to his family.
Lindani Myeni: His final moments revealed
Myeni, who’d recently moved to the United States (US) with his family in January, was gunned down by Honolulu police in a confrontation that is at the centre of a diplomatic-level probe.
The question that lingers on, weeks after the KwaZulu-Natal-born rugby player was killed, is: What was Myeni doing at a neighbour’s house after he had left his home to “clear his mind”.
In the interview, Lindsey offered a window into the hours leading up to her husband’s death on the evening of Wednesday 14 April. Here’s a timeline of that fateful day, according to Myeni’s wife:
- The family spent the day sightseeing north of Honolulu, stopping along the way to take pictures of popular tourist sites.
- Lindsey claims Myeni was particularly withdrawn that day. He wanted to visit culturally significant spiritual places.
“He knew he wanted spiritual guidance that day, he knew something was off, he just was praying,” Lindsey recalled.
- After a long day of sightseeing, the family returned to their home where Lindsey prepared dinner.
- She insisted that he stay for dinner but according to the wife, Myeni was determined to go for a drive “to clear his mind.”
- Myeni left and at 19:52, Lindsey tried calling the former rugby player to check up on his whereabouts.
- Unable to reach her husband, Lindsey went to sleep.
According to police records, Myeni’s confrontation with respondents of the Honolulu Police Department took place at 20:10, less than 20 minutes after his wife had tried to reach him.
The police’s version of events is a wild contrast to Lindsey’s. In their official statement, the police claim a team of officers was called out to a home in Myeni’s neighbourhood on that Wednesday evening. It’s said that the former rugby player had unlawfully entered the residence of a neighbour.
The general assumption police made was that Myeni was a burglar. It is further alleged that police officers attempted to reason with the former rugby player but that he had resisted, allegedly going on to assault three armed officers.
In retaliation, police officers shot Myeni multiple times, killing him instantly.
Wife will press ‘wrongful death’ charges against Hawaii police
Lindsey has refused to believe the police’s version of events. Myeni’s wife is adamant that her husband, a gentle giant, was either looking for a synagogue to pray for all the blessings he had attracted for his family, or he was out to visit a neighbour.
“I think he might have been trying to drive to the temple because he was looking for a place to pray or figure out and clear his mind about what was stressing him in life. Good stress — happy stress, he was about to get his green card,” she said.
The Honolulu police have not released updates on the status of the internal probe into the killing. The US embassy in Pretoria says it has launched its own investigation, to assess the culpability of the police in being involved in yet another death of an unarmed black man.
“I would like to see them [the police officers] spend time in jail, just because I feel like that would humble them and allow them to see people in jail as humans. I would like to see them do some time, at least. I would love to see real reform in the way that people are treated by police across America,” Lindsey said.