The whole world watched as Judge Thozokile Masipa gave her verdict to the sensational Oscar Pistorius trial. Suspected of killing her girlfriend in cold blood on Valentines' Day last year, the double amputee runner was found guilty of culpable homicide and not of premeditated murder.
While the prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, argued that Pistorius purposely shot his girlfriend after an argument, the accused claimed that he thought he was shooting an intruder and not Reeva Steenkamp.
After thoroughly discussing all the evidences and witness accounts in court, Judge Masipa decided that the star athlete did not intend to kill Steenkamp but was "negligent" when he "hastily" fired those shots at the bathroom door.
"A reasonable person, therefore, in the position of the accused with similar disability would have foreseen the possibility that whoever was behind the door might be killed by the shots," she concluded.
Pistorius was also acquitted on the two counts of firearms charges but was found guilty for firing a gun under a table in a Johannesburg restaurant.
The Oscar Pistorius trial will continue in October when the Paralympian gold medallist will face Judge Masipa again to receive and carry out his sentence.
Steenkamp's mother, June, however, thought the judgment was "not the right sentence" despite her earlier statement of forgiving the Blade Runner.
According to the grieving father, Barry, there was still something missing to the whole story. He couldn't fully believe the sequence of events presented by the accused.
"I wish that the truth of the story will come out one day," Barry Steenkamp said.
In an interview with ITV, June Steenkamp shared that they were "shocked" and "disappointed" with the verdict. She couldn't even look at Pistorius after Judge Masipa announced her sentence.
"I don't care what happens to Oscar," she told NBC News. "It's not going to change anything because my daughter is never coming back. He's still living and breathing and she's gone... forever."
Do you think Judge Masipa carried out the right sentence in the Oscar Pistorius trial?
Look back at the entire trial through photos here.
