Reeva Steenkamp's Mom Wants Answers But Is Willing To Forgive Oscar Pistorius (VIDEO)

Reeva's Mom: 'One Has To Forgive'

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June Steenkamp, the mother of the woman fatally shot by Oscar Pistorius last year, wants answers and recognition but she is also willing to forgive. The mother of Reeva Steenkamp, the model who died at the home of the South African track star on Feb. 14, 2013, talked about her daughter's death and Pistorius' murder trial during a live interview with Savannah Guthrie of "TODAY" on Tuesday morning.

"It's actually important to forgive him, for me, because I don't want to live with bitterness in my life," she told Guthrie. "It's just going to turn itself into my being and I don't want that. And I think one has to forgive."

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A day earlier, June had been in court as the high-profile trial of the double-amputee Olympian began in Pretoria. She was hoping that Pistorius would look her way while both were in the court room.

"I want to look at Oscar, really look him in the eyes, and see for myself the truth about what he did to Reeva," she said, via The Associated Press. "Whatever the court decides at the end of his trial, I will be ready to forgive him ... But first I want to force him to look at me, Reeva's mother, and see the pain and anguish he has inflicted on me."

Pistorius pleaded not guilty to four charges and did not look at June on Monday.

"He just walked into the court room and looked straight ahead and then he sat down and never looked my way, or he didn't have an opportunity to do that," June told Guthrie on Tuesday.

Prosecutors believe the 27-year-old dubbed the "Blade Runner" for the prosthetic legs he uses during competition intentionally killed Reeva, his girlfriend, after an argument before dawn on Valentine's Day 2013. Pistorius contends the shooting was a tragic accident and that he mistook Reeva for an intruder at his home.

"I'm not going to give you my personal feelings about what I think," Reeva's mother told Guthrie. "But I've got to depend on the justice system that we get justice and we get answers and I've got confidence in that. But it doesn't matter to me what happens to Oscar because my daughter is never coming back."

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