Kardell Lomas’ family in despair over her killer’s sentence in Brisbane court
An Ipswich man who killed his partner, who was just weeks off giving birth, and stuffed her body in the boot of an abandoned car has been sentenced, after pleading guilty to manslaughter. VIDEO
Police & Courts
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An Ipswich man who killed his pregnant partner and stuffed her body in the boot of an abandoned car has been sentenced in a Brisbane court to 14 years’ jail, after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Traven Lee Fisher appeared in Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday, March 15 — days after his 40th birthday — on charges of manslaughter, killing an unborn child, and interfering with a corpse on an unknown date between December 5 and 11, 2019.
It is understood he killed mum-of-two Kardell Lomas, his 31-year-old girlfriend of about 12 months, on December 8, 2019.
According to her family, she was “weeks off giving birth”.
An anonymous tip-off alerted police to Ms Lomas’ death and officers discovered her “decomposing” body in the boot of an abandoned car behind a Raceview home.
Fisher was arraigned last week on a count each of murder, destroying the life of a child before birth, and improperly interfering with a dead human body.
He pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter, and guilty to the two lesser charges.
The Crown accepted Fisher’s plea of guilty to manslaughter instead of murder.
After proceedings today, Ms Lomas’ cousin Raylene Spence shared her disappointment at the downgraded charge.
“I don’t think it should have been downgraded at all because he was well aware that she was pregnant. It’s just unfair,” Ms Spence said.
“In my opinion he knew what he was doing.
“It should have stayed at that murder charge because there were two lives taken in that action,” she said.
The Supreme Court heard on Wednesday that Fisher was due to face trial on a charge of murder before a jury on March 7 this year, but indicated a week prior that he was prepared to plead guilty to manslaughter.
Ms Spence said Ms Lomas’ family first heard the charge had been downgraded in the Supreme Court on March 8.
The Crown accepted the proposal and the trial was delisted.
“The Crown accepted a submission from the defence that in all the circumstances the offence of manslaughter properly reflected the criminality of the defendant on the available evidence,” an Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions spokesman told The Courier Mail.
Justice Peter Davis said Fisher’s pleas did not, to him, demonstrate true and genuine remorse, as he pleaded guilty to manslaughter some three years after Ms Lomas’ death. He accepted the plea was motivated by self-preservation.
Mr Davis said it was significant that an autopsy doctor could not ascertain the cause of Ms Lomas’ death with absolute certainty, as her brain was “too decomposed” for proper assessment and causes such as natural disease and methamphetamine abuse could not be ruled out.
But Fisher, through his barrister James Godbolt, asked Mr Davis to draw the conclusion that choking was his girlfriend’s cause of death. The judge said he drew that inference.
It was neither alleged by the prosecution nor admitted by Fisher that he intended to cause anyone’s death.
The court heard it was Ms Lomas’ death that caused the death of her unborn child, meaning a single act resulted in two offences.
After Fisher placed Ms Lomas’ pregnant body in the boot of a car, he contacted friends and asked for help, as well as a Ute, a large tin box, and money for petrol.
Given the fact one car in Fisher’s backyard – where he left Ms Lomas’ body – was operational except for a flat battery and no petrol, Ms Davis said he could infer that Fisher intended to place Ms Lomas’ body in a tin box and “dump her”.
The court heard Fisher had a “compromised” upbringing as the youngest of 13 children raised in Cherbourg and a man of “borderline” intelligence who was functionally illiterate.
He had a criminal history and was subject to a supervision order until 2018. He killed Ms Lomas and her unborn child within 18 months of the order expiring.
Mr Davis said there were no comparative cases concerning the offence of killing an unborn child for him to look to.
He sentenced Fisher to 13 years’ imprisonment for manslaughter and eight years’ for killing an unborn child, to be served concurrently. Fisher was also sentenced to 12 months’ jail for interfering with a corpse, to be served cumulatively on the other sentences.
Mr Davis fixed Fisher’s parole eligibility date as November 15, 2029 and convictions were recorded for all three counts.
Ms Spence said she was expecting Fisher to receive a prison sentence that was longer than 14 years.
“I think deep down, even though it didn’t come out with the outcome that we were expecting …,” Ms Spence said.
“At least it might set the benchmark for any other family … to actually get some sort of justice. Even though it’s not what we were expecting.”
She said the closure of the case would allow her family to move forward “the best way we know how”.
“It’s always hard losing the ones we love so much,” Ms Lomas’ other cousin Crystal Williams said.
Ms Lomas’ brother Adair Lomas said he was not expected to be “shocked” by the sentence his sister’s killer received, but he was.
“No matter what the sentence is, it’s not going to bring my sister back or my nephew,” he said.
He emphasised the significance of men and women speaking up when they or someone they know is affected by domestic violence, as not doing so could be fatal.
“It’s not love if you’re being verbally, physically, mentally, or sexually abused in your relationship,” he said.
“ … I encourage you to build the courage and strength up to get out of it while you still have a chance, because my sister had a chance but left it too late and it cost her her life, her unborn son’s life, left two sons motherless, and caused a lot of grief and pain for our family.”
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