Monique Lezsak’s daughter tried to save her before fatal Endeavour Hills stabbing
The nine-year-old daughter of a woman fatally stabbed in an Endeavour Hills home was injured while bravely trying to defend her mum.
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The nine-year-old daughter of a woman fatally stabbed in an Endeavour Hills home was cut in the arm while bravely trying to save her mum.
Monique Lezsak, 39, died after she was allegedly stabbed to death about 7.30am on Tuesday inside a single-storey property owned by her parents.
Homicide squad detectives were probing whether an alleged fight between Ms Lezsak and a man, understood to be her current partner, Sven Lindemann, turned deadly.
Her twin children, a boy and a girl, were both inside the home when the alleged fight broke out between the pair.
It’s understood Mr Lindemann, who remains in a serious condition in hospital under police guard, was rushed to hospital with upper body injuries.
Ms Lezsak’s best friend, Jacqueline Schwarcz, told the Herald Sun her young daughter was cut while trying to defend her mum during the alleged fight.
“Her daughter is a hero, my hero, our hero, she tried to stop it,” she said.
“She was cut in a few places on the same arm and hand.”
The girl was taken to Monash Medical Centre with minor injuries but was later released.
“She is back with us … she is not OK,” Ms Schwarcz said.
“We are all surrounding the kids, how do you even navigate this?”
Ms Schwarcz said Ms Lezsak dedicated her “entire life to her children”.
“Her kids were her life,” she said.
“She was a full-time mother, making sure to take them on adventures and experiences.
“We would always take them to fun parks, water parks, hikes … anything to get them out and about having fun.”
Ms Schwarcz said her best friend was the “kindest person you would meet”.
“We grew up together and would hang out every school holidays and weekends,” she said.
“She never judged anyone, we had the same sense of humour and we laughed at the most random things.”
It’s understood Ms Lezsak excelled in her work as a disability carer, and held a diploma in beauty therapy.
Her distraught ex-partner and father to her twins, Jye Carter, described her as “the most beautiful person”.
“She’s achieved a real lot in her life,” he said.
“She was just a really good mum. I can’t believe this has happened, I really can’t.”
Mr Carter created a GoFundMe page to help support their twins and pay for her funeral.
It’s raised hundreds of dollars in a matter of hours, with Mr Carter choosing a smiling photo of Ms Lezsak and her daughter as the online cover photo.
Endeavour Hills residents are also in the process of planning a weekend vigil for Ms Lezsak in a bid “to show she mattered” and so “her kids and family can see the support they have surrounding them”.
Her violent death has reportedly shocked a tight-knit Mauritian community in Queensland, where many of Ms Lezsak’s family members live.
Several of Ms Lezsak’s relatives are preparing to fly to Melbourne from interstate to farewell the “beautiful” mother.
Speaking to the Herald Sun, her elder cousin Bernard Lefebure said he was struggling to come to terms with Ms Lezsak’s death after watching her grow up into an “amazing young lady”.
“We are trying to cope as best as possible, but this tragic loss has cast a dark shadow upon my family and it will take a very long time to grieve this loss,” he said.
“Monique was the most beautiful, cute little girl to watch grow up into an amazing young lady and mother.
“She was a very determined little girl as a child who was heavily involved in gymnastics … she competed at many levels and won many trophies in that respect.
“Her determination could be seen in everything that she embarked in both professionally, socially and in the family context.”
Mr Lefebure said one of his fondest memories of his younger cousin was when he chose Ms Lezsak to be his flower girl at his wedding in 1991.
“She was absolutely beautiful and was a great flower girl who did everything right on my wedding day,” he said.
But Mr Lefebure said Ms Lezsak’s family were now preparing to arrive in Melbourne in the coming days ahead of a vigil organised by her former partner.
Ms Lezsak’s death is understood to have significantly affected her mother, Magali, who is well-known in the Mauritian community.
“The death of Monique has had a massive impact on the Mauritian community Australia wide,” Mr Lefebure said.
“Monique you will be missed by many but rest assured that your two beautiful twin children will be well looked after, and your legacy will live on through them. I love you so much, beautiful soul.”
Both Ms Lezsak and her partner were professional bodybuilders and regularly shared their exercise routines to a mass of followers on social media.
Friends of Mr Carter first alerted him to the tragedy after spotting Ms Lezsak’s parents’ house in news articles and on television in the hours after her death.
Mr Carter, who served time in prison over crimes committed while affiliated with the Finks motorcycle gang, arrived at the Kassan Gardens home on Tuesday afternoon alongside his partner, Kaera Douglas.
In 2007, Ms Douglas was herself almost killed when Hell’s Angel Christopher Wayne Hudson shot her in a rampage that killed lawyer Brendan Keilar and critically injured Dutch backpacker Paul de Waard.
The pair were seen crying and yelling uncontrollably as they engaged in heated discussions with detectives.
Mr Carter said his former partner had plans to become a police officer before she was killed.
“She’s a great mum … she has put so much, 100 per cent into our kids and her own family,” he said.
“She was the most beautiful person, I really don’t understand how this has happened.
“She’s just a decent person, she’s a good mum.”
Ms Douglas said she was in disbelief over Ms Lezsak’s sudden death.
“No words can express what a loss it is to lose you today,” she said.
“Monique Lezsak, you welcomed me into your family with open arms. I promise to do everything I can with Jye to support your family and the twins.
“You were the best mother and will be sadly missed … I still can’t believe this is really real.”
On Wednesday, detectives and cleaners surrounded the Endeavour Hills home the day after Ms Lezsak’s death.
Operating in eery silence, detectives collected brown bags of evidence throughout the morning and early afternoon.
Cleaners also arrived sporadically, kitted out in protective suits and towing a biohazard bin in the van’s trailer.
The home was attended by a single neighbour, who did not wish to be named.
She laid a bouquet of flowers by the fence to commemorate Ms Lezsak’s life.
Messages of grief were also being outpoured on social media, with local residents and members of the community heartbroken at her death.
One woman said she went to the gym with Ms Lezsak and called her an “amazing lady” who “always put others first and never judged anyone”
Virginia Wright, who lives next door to the house, said she was shocked to find police cars surrounding the crime scene when she woke up on Tuesday.
“This is the first time this has happened on our street. It’s very quiet,” she said.
“I couldn’t believe this was happening in our street … it’s really a shock.”
Ms Lezsak’s cousin, who wished not to be named, attended the scene and collected a family dog from the home while investigators continued examining the property on Tuesday night.
She said she was still coming to terms with the loss of her cousin.
“She was just a beautiful, wonderful woman,” she said.
“You never expect anything like this to happen.”
She said Ms Lezsak and Mr Lindemann appeared to have a healthy relationship.
“They didn’t have arguments or anything that we know of, but then again some people don’t share that stuff with others,” she said.
Anyone with information about the incident or with footage should contact Crime Stoppers.
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