The little boy who saved murdered Charlise Mutten’s mum

Amid harrowing grief and crippling drug addiction after her fiance mercilessly killed her nine-year-old daughter, Kallista Mutten gave birth to a baby boy. Not letting him down is her reason for living.

• Schoolgirl’s killer jailed for life

A two-year-old boy is the reason the mother of murdered schoolgirl Charlise Mutten hasn’t given up her will to live.

Kallista Mutten was 12 weeks pregnant when her fiance Justin Stein murdered Charlise — ` execution-style — at his family’s Blue Mountains estate, in January 2022.

Amid her harrowing grief and battling a gripping drug addiction, Kallista gave birth to a baby boy in July that year.

As Stein, 33, was sentenced to life in jail without parole on Monday for a crime that a Supreme Court judge described as “without humanity or morality”, Kallista revealed to The Daily Telegraph there is a little boy she refuses to let down.

“I might not of been there for my daughter as I should’ve been, and regret it a lot, but I have to live with that,” Kallista said.

Kallista Mutten, left, says her young son has given her reason to live after the murder of her daughter Charlise Mutten, top right, at the hands of Justin Stein, bottom right. Pictures: News Corp/Supplied

“I won’t let (the boy) down too, he deserves me to fight for him, and he deserves my love,” she said.

The “beautiful” boy is in the care of relatives while Kallista, by her own admission, gets herself better. She has completed a lengthy stint at a drug rehabilitation centre, continues to receive outpatient support and is slowly “putting myself back together”.

Recently-released pictures of Charlise Mutten, who was murdered by Justin Stein. Picture: Supplied

Kallista was staying at a nearby caravan park for a night on her own when Stein fired two shots at Charlise at point blank range. He then bundled her small body in a barrel, covered it in sand, and drove around Sydney before dumping it near the Colo River.

When the trauma of Charlise’s brutal and inhumane death rocks her too much, Kallista said she turns her thoughts to the many wonderful memories she had with her daughter.

“My daughter was out of this world how smart she was. She read 150 books in a year. Most any kid has read. There is an award now at her school called the Charlise Mutten award and the kids fight over it,” she said.

She recalled a time Stein and another person were speaking badly of her, within earshot of Charlise. When Kallista became upset at what was being said, Charlise took hold of her mum’s arm.

Justin Stein during an interview with police at Penrith Station. Picture: Supplied.

“She goes: “I don’t know why they’re saying this about you mum, but remember my opinion only matters, and you’re the best mum in the world,” she said.

In her victim impact statement read out at Stein’s sentencing hearing last week, Kallista said that more than anything, she missed being Charlise’s mum.

“I am forced to live with the fact that I trusted someone with my daughter and because of my trust in someone, I put my daughter in harm’s way,” she said in court.

When Justice Helen Wilson sentenced Stein to live in jail without parole on Monday, she described his crime as “unspeakably vicious”, noting the child called him “Daddy”.

“This was a shockingly callous crime of very great heinousness; it was gravely reprehensible and extremely wicked,” Justice Wilson said.

But in an extraordinary move, Kallista said she has forgiven Stein.

“As hard as it is, I do forgive Justin, not for him but for me, so he has no hooks on me and will never have control of me,” Kallista said.

“People say I was in the relationship for money … I was in it for love and belonging … I thought it would be a fairytale.”

Originally published as The little boy who saved murdered Charlise Mutten’s mum