Pain, sorrow and misery. After her son Jordy, who was stabbed to death, Jolanda Gruijters also lost her husband. He passed away this week. “If the suspect had simply left the terrace, they would both still be alive. She destroyed an entire family,” says mother Jolanda crying.
The drama started almost a year ago on a terrace in Rosmalen. Jill, Jordy’s sister, felt threatened. Finally, her brother stood up for her. The then 17-year-old suspect stabbed him with a knife, after which he died.
The judge will rule next week in the case against the woman who is now 18. Justice argued in the case that she acted in self-defense. The demand was therefore acquitted for manslaughter and community service for assault.
Wiljan, Jordy’s father, had a very difficult time with the death of his son. “He made the decision to go to Jordy himself,” says the mother. “The sentence demand made him insecure, he could no longer cope with the loss.”
“Our children now have no father and no grandfather.”
Wiljan’s death hit Noa, Jordy’s partner, hard. She has two children from him who are 8 months old and almost 2 years old. “I had already given birth without Jordy and thought it couldn’t get any worse. But now our children no longer have a father or a grandfather.”
Noa has a very difficult time with the situation. “Things are going really bad. I still don’t realize he’s gone.” Jordy’s mother is also not doing well after the death of her son and husband. “This is the umpteenth blow we get.”
In addition to all the grief, mother and daughter-in-law also have many frustrations about the statements in the lawsuit. According to them, Jordy was indeed deliberately stabbed. That’s why they want to tell their side of the story again.
“Jill was stared at all the time on the terrace by the 17-year-old girl. My daughter noticed that and she got scared,” says Jolanda. “Jill has an intellectual disability. Because she herself is not sure what to do in such situations, she always calls a family member.”
That evening Noa and Jolanda came to the terrace. There they try to talk to the suspect, but soon the girl hits Noa with a broken nose. “When Jill saw that, she called Jordy. When he heard that his heavily pregnant girlfriend was bleeding on the floor, he was shocked.”
“She pointed the knife at Jordy and was ready to say ‘come on’.”
Jordy was in Rosmalen within a few minutes. “He walked out onto the terrace and yelled, ‘Who did this?’ At that moment, waiters arrive. They push him back. She aimed the knife at Jordy and was ready to say ‘come then’”, says his mother.
Then she hit Jordy in the chest. “He ran to Café Bottles. I didn’t realize he had been stabbed. I only heard that after I had put the tables and chairs straight.” There he later died on the kitchen floor.
They do not understand the position of the judiciary. “This was not a storm. She could leave after the fight, she could leave when she heard that Jordy was coming and she could even get away when the waiters pushed him back”, says Jolanda angrily. “She deliberately waited for Jordy with a knife in her hand.”
The camera images that, according to the judiciary, show that it concerns severe weather, have not been viewed by the relatives themselves. Their lawyer does. “The officer kept insisting to view the CCTV footage. To show that the weather is bad. But I don’t want to see my own child stabbed to death.”
The verdict is on January 13. Jordy’s family is not at the verdict. “We think that two people died because of her. It feels to us as if she not only killed Jordy, but also his father.”
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