Momentum builds for wife killer crackdown inspired by Rekiah O’Donnell and Kara Doyle
A DESPERATE push by the family of slain woman Rekiah O’Donnell for a crackdown on killers who shoot their partners is gathering momentum.
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A DESPERATE push by the family of slain woman Rekiah O’Donnell for a crackdown on killers who shoot their partners is gathering momentum.
An online change.org petition calling for “Rekiah’s Law” has attracted nearly 5000 signatures. Her killer beat a murder charge, despite a history of violence and death threats.
As the Herald Sun revealed, the families of Ms O’Donnell, 22, and another woman, Kara Doyle, 24 — who were both shot dead by violent, ice-addicted boyfriends — are pleading for legislative reform.
Ms O’Donnell’s killer was acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter. And a murder charge against Ms Doyle’s killer was dropped after prosecutors accepted his plea of guilty to manslaughter.
Both said they didn’t know their guns were loaded.
The families want to stop those with a history of abusing their partners relying on such a lack of knowledge or intent to harm to reduce a murder charge to manslaughter.
“You point a gun at someone, not in self-defence, and pull the trigger, you are charged with murder,’’ says the Rekiah’s Law Facebook page, which has attracted more than 7000 “likes”.
Premier Daniel Andrews has said his Government would ask the Royal Commission into Family Violence to assess current laws.
Rekiah’s brother, Jesse, said many domestic violence victims had sent messages of support, vowing not to give up until there is better protection.
“The level of interest and people wanting to share the story is amazing,’’ he said.
“The main goal is hopefully to save other lives, with the knowledge that those thugs can’t get away with it.
“They have to be held fully accountable for their actions, regardless of whether they were drunk or high on drugs.’’
The petition seeks tougher punishment for domestic violence offenders.
“How many times must parents bury their own children, taken before their time by abusive partners, only for those very thugs to be released from prison, often less than a decade later?” it reads.
“Why should a family lose one of its members and feel the heartache for the rest of their years only for the one who caused them such harsh suffering be released from his punishment in as little as six years?” it asks.