Reeva Steenkamp Cremated In Port Elizabeth As Oscar Pistorius Is Charged With Premeditated Murder

As charges against Oscar Pistorius were upgraded to premeditated murder on Tuesday, his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was cremated in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Steenkamp’s friends and family gathered for an emotional service to remember her.

"There's a space missing inside all the people that she knew," to model’s brother Adam Steenkamp said. "Everyone is sad, understandably, but at certain points we were smiling whilst remembering Reeva, because we only have good memories of her.”

Steenkamp, 29, died last Thursday after Pistorius’ shot her multiple times through a bathroom door at his Pretoria home. In the hearing Tuesday, authorities revealed that Pistorius had to put on his prosthetic legs, get out of bed and walk more than 20 feet from a bedroom to get to the bathroom where Steenkamp was allegedly hiding after a heated argument. Prosecutors upgraded the murder charge to premeditated murder.

Pistorius, 26, cried during the hearing. His lawyer, Barry Roux, denied the prosecutors’ accusations. Roux said there is no motive and no evidence to support murder claims. In a written affidavit, Pistorius said he does not “understand how I could be charged with murder, let alone premeditated."

"I heard a noise in my bathroom ... I felt a sense of terror. I believed someone had entered my house. I was too scared to switch a light on. I grabbed my 9mm pistol from underneath my bed,” he said.

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