Qld: Girl cleared of mother s murder

AAP General News (Australia)
08-22-2000
Qld: Girl cleared of mother s murder

By Suzanne Klotz

BRISBANE, Aug 22 AAP - A 12-year-old hearing impaired girl accused of shooting her
drug addicted, bed-ridden mother was today acquitted of murder but still faces a manslaughter
charge.

She is believed to be the youngest person in Australia to be charged with killing a parent.

The girl, is now aged 14 and cannot be identified. It is alleged she used her mother's
.22 rifle to shoot her in the temple at close range while her mother was having dinner
at their Sunshine Coast home.

The Brisbane Supreme Court jury deliberated for more than seven hours over two days
before returning with a not guilty verdict on the murder charge.

But they indicated they were deadlocked and could not bring in a unanimous verdict
on the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Justice Glen Williams discharged the jury and remanded the teenager to the next sitting
of the Supreme Court in Brisbane, extending her bail.

The Director of Public Prosecutions will decide then whether to proceed with the manslaughter
charge.

The girl originally denied any involvement in the killing, but eventually told police
that she was actually struggling with an intruder and accidentally shot her mother.

However, the prosecution contended that she had deliberately killed her mother because
she was fed up with her mother's drug-taking and lack of domesticity.

The mother, a 48-year-old TAFE student, was found lying dead on her bed. She had her
glasses on and still had a piece of broccoli hanging from her mouth.

The daughter had prepared dinner - sausages and vegetables - on the night of the killing.

Her mother rarely cooked.

The pair lived together at their home in the Sunshine Coast hinterland and witnesses
testified that the girl bore the brunt of domestic duties.

A friend of the family for eight years, Anne Maree Huxon, of Cornubia, in Brisbane's
southern outskirts, gave evidence and described the girl as "like a daughter to me".

She told the court that the mother and daughter "fought a bit".

"She (the mother) had a bit of a dope problem and spent a lot of time in bed," Ms Huxon said.

The jury deliberated from 11.30am yesterday, and requested redirections from Justice
Williams, asking for some evidence to be reread, and querying the meaning of "reasonable
doubt" and "criminal negligence".

AAP smk/sc/cjh d

KEYWORD: MOTHER NIGHTLEAD

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