‘He’s gonna kill you’: Tammy Simpson speaks about the harrowing loss of daughter Eden in brutal domestic violence murder
Tammy Simpson’s warning to her daughter Eden Kennett proved tragically prophetic when she was killed by her violent partner.
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“He’s gonna kill you.” This was the chilling warning Tammy Simpson gave her eldest daughter during one of the last conversations they had.
A few months later 25-year-old Eden Kennett was beaten to death by her violent boyfriend.
Her grief-stricken mother has spoken to The Advertiser about the “ugly truth” of domestic violence ahead of the launch of a royal commission into the deadly crisis in South Australia.
Ms Simpson, 48, wants tougher consequences for violent offenders, including denying bail or home detention, and for more young people to be aware of the warning signs of abuse.
Ms Kennett had been in an “on and off” relationship with Bradley Wayne Trussell for about two years when he beat her to the brink of death following an argument about her use of a mobile phone in December 2018.
Trussell was convicted of murder three years later and received a mandatory life sentence in jail with a 20-year non-parole period.
Ms Simpson did not meet the man who killed her daughter until he faced court and says he often prevented her from keeping in touch.
When she did visit she would arrive “black and blue”.
“Five months before he killed her I said ‘He’s gonna kill you’,” Ms Simpson revealed.
“I was saying ‘This has got to stop, you’ve got to stop going back because he’s gonna kill you’.
“(And) he killed her. He bashed my daughter to death because she was on the phone.”
During the fatal argument Trussell shoved Ms Kennett into the fridge at the Mount Gambier home where they lived, and then callously stood by and smoked weed while she convulsed on the floor.
He gave evidence that he thought she was “faking it” but later put her under a cold shower.
Eventually Trussell took an unresponsive Ms Kennett to his sister’s house before finally delivering her to the Mount Gambier Hospital.
She had broken ribs, a lacerated liver and was gasping for breath.
Ms Kennett was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital but could not be saved.
She was among 69 women who died violently in 2018.
So far in 2024 at least 32 women have been killed, including by men known to them and strangers like Bondi stabbing killer Joel Cauchi.
The death toll has prompted rallies across the country and a crisis meeting of national cabinet.
South Australian authorities will launch a royal commission into domestic, family and sexual violence on July 1.
Photos taken of Ms Kennett in the ICU show her rake-thin, weighing just 53kg, covered in dark purple bruises and medical tubing.
“I was telling her to wake up and the nurse told me she’s not going to,” Ms Simpson recalled of her final moments with her daughter.
“They told me she’s in a coma … she’s totally brain dead.”
Ms Simpson gave permission for her daughter’s organs to be donated and was told that parts of her heart saved the lives of babies.
“It’s bittersweet,” she said.
“I thought she was going to come back and we would just carry on with life like we normally did. But she didn’t come home again did she?”
After Trussell was convicted Ms Simpson faced him in court to deliver a victim impact statement.
“I remember standing and looking at him and he wouldn’t look at me,” she said.
“(I felt) angry and ripped off. I had to compose myself (but) how much composure was there when he flogged my daughter for being on her phone?
“I’ve got no time, no care, no remorse for anyone like him.”
Ms Simpson said her daughter, who left behind a young son, had made multiple police reports and sought safety at a women’s shelter in the months before her death.
About a week beforehand Trussell sent a text message to his sister about Ms Kennett, saying: “iv hurt her anuf an she wont leave”.
“I cant do this anymore sis,” he wrote.
Court documents reveal Trussell grew up with a violent alcoholic father and later developed an illicit drug addiction.
He had a criminal history including property damage, trespass, assault, breaching a restraining order and driving offences.
Ms Kennett also grew up in a volatile environment and turned to drugs.
Ms Simpson, who has been sober for almost two years, said it broke her heart to see her daughter repeat a generational cycle of abuse.
“My children had a broken mother,” Ms Simpson said tearfully.
“There’s nothing more scary than watching a child in the same cycle you’re in.
“I accepted being talked to horribly. It was just blatant disrespect.
“My kids never seen a man grab me and hug me and tell me he loves me.
“Its obvious that’s how they thought life and love is.”
Since her daughter’s death Ms Simpson has created the Facebook page Let’s Talk About it with Eden’s Mum to raise awareness of the warning signs of abuse and control in relationships.
“No one wants to talk about it … because its ugly, its rude. But the real thing needs to be talked about, not this softened idea of domestic violence,” she said.
“If I could save someone else’s daughter it would probably help … because I couldn’t save my own.”
For support phone 1800 RESPECT or DV Crisis Line (1800 800 098)
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Originally published as ‘He’s gonna kill you’: Tammy Simpson speaks about the harrowing loss of daughter Eden in brutal domestic violence murder
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