WATCH | 'He was the cutest little thing': Triple murder claims boy, 3, in gang-infested Gqeberha suburb

The tiny boy with his happy demeanour and wobbly legs was the apple of his grandmother's eye, and every night, he would crawl into her bed and sleep soundly.

However, on Tuesday night, little Emilio Hutchinson, three, and his grandmother, Ellen Hutchinson, 52, were killed when they were shot by gunmen in the bedroom of their Gqeberha home.

A homeless man, Claudeo Thomas, 44, whom Hutchinson gave shelter to for the night, also died in the modest two-roomed house in Helenvale, a neighbourhood infested with gangs.