Balin Stewart death: Dad tells court of teen’s final moments

The father of a boy stabbed to death outside his Sunshine Coast home has told of the “haunting” moment he and his distraught wife watched their son die.

• Revealed: Explosive messages before fatal stabbing

The father of a boy stabbed to death outside his Sunshine Coast home has told of the “haunting” moment he watched his son take his last breath.

Michael Stewart was getting ready for bed in January 2020 when he heard a commotion and ran outside to find his 16-year-old son Balin on the ground being tended to by his “incredibly distraught” wife Kerri-Lyn.

Prosecutors allege private school student Balin was stabbed in the heart by a 17-year-old boy amid ongoing tension over a girl.

The teen, now 18, pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder on the first day of his trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday.

Mr Stewart gave evidence that when he walked outside, Balin’s female friend said he had been stabbed by another 17-year-old boy who was still at the scene and who had called Triple-0 himself.

Michael and Kerri-Lyn Stewart, attend the Supreme Court on Monday. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“The haunting thing of that night is he (Balin) took an incredibly deep gasping breath and then went silent and it seemed like minutes but it was probably only seconds and that repeated two more times until the last one was like a long drawn out exhale,” Mr Stewart said.

“From there I figured he wasn’t breathing so I started CPR the best I could to try and revive him.”

Mr Stewart said when an ambulance arrived after what “seemed like an eternity”, he thought his son would be okay.

“I looked over at the defibrillator and saw a number on there – 40 – and thought good he’s going to live there’s some sort of pulse…but not to be,” he said.

In a recorded interview with police played to the court, the teenage girl who was at the scene described how on the night of the incident, she and Balin had sent the defendant videos of themselves “cuddling” in bed.

“We started like sending him videos from my phone sort of to provoke him I guess,” she said.

“And then (the defendant) asked like if he wanted to fight but we didn’t think he was like being real.”

Balin Stewart, 16, who was allegedly stabbed to death outside his Buddina home on January 20. Picture: Supplied

The girl said Balin took her phone and responded that he would fight the other boy, but told him not to be “a dog” and bring anyone over with him.

“Balin didn’t think he’d come,” the girl told police. “When he actually showed up we were like oh s*** we really didn’t expect this one bit.”

The court heard that at 11.14pm on January 20, 2022, the defendant sent a message to the girl’s Instagram account where the videos had been exchanged saying “come out”.

“We went up to him and we were like ‘what are you doing here’ and Balin was telling him to leave and then (the defendant) just punched him in the head and then they kind of just wrestled to the floor,” she told police.

Balin Stewart.

The girl said the boys wrestled for a time while she tried to separate them and eventually they went to opposite sides of the road and she went to speak to the defendant.

“I was like you need to get out of here … and he goes, ‘I’m gonna kill him’ and he had a knife in his hand and he’s saying ‘I’m going to kill him’ and I’m trying to get him to leave but he wouldn’t leave,” she told police.

The girl said the defendant said something “to provoke Balin” who walked over and asked “what did you say to me” and the pair began fighting again.

She said she then saw the defendant make a motion toward Balin and he fell to the ground.

“I didn’t know that he stabbed him, I was so confused with Balin on the floor and I ran over and seen there was a stab wound and blood and I was like call the ambulance…”

The court heard evidence the defendant called Triple-0 straight away as the girl went to fetch Balin’s parents, banging on their bedroom window and screaming for them to come outside.

Balin’s mother Kerri-Lyn gave evidence she had been asleep in bed when the girl came to get her.

She said that when she walked outside, she saw her son unconscious on the ground.

Ms Stewart said the girl was screaming at the defendant “you’ve stabbed him” and “he was saying I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I can’t believe I did it”.

“He was quite distressed,” she said.

Ms Stewart said when her husband first emerged from the house and began walking toward the defendant, the boy put his hands up and said “something like ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘I didn’t mean it’.

Ms Stewart said she and her husband tried to wake their son and neighbours arrived to help.

She said when police arrived and asked “who did it”, the defendant replied “it was me, I’m over here” and told them his name.

The trial continues before Justice Elizabeth Wilson.