‘I miss being loved’: Emma Lovell’s family’s opens up about harrowing night of home invasion

Lee Lovell has detailed the terrifying evening that his wife was killed by a teen intruder as she attempted to defend her home and two daughters.

Lee Lovell has detailed the terrifying evening his wife, and the mother of his two daughters, was killed by an intruder.

Emma Lovell was 41 years old on Boxing Day 2022 when two teenagers broke into their North Lakes house and she died defending her home and children.

Lee Lovall on the front lawn where Emma collapsed after being fatally stabbed. Photo: A Current Affair

The teenager who killed her, and stabbed Mr Lovell, was four months shy of turning 18 and had been on a three-day bender when he entered the house with an 11.5cm knife.

He had been convicted of 84 crimes since he was 15-years-old and had never spent a night in custody.

Her widower told A Current Affair there needs to be tougher sentencing by Queensland courts, more police patrols at night and better immediate support for victims and their families after a traumatic crime.

Lee Lovell has detailed the terrifying evening his wife and the mother of his two daughters was killed by an intruder. Photo: A Current Affair

“I suppose one thing I have struggled with is grieving, and I grieve for Emma as well as work, and be as professional I can at work, and then come home and manage the house and clean the house and be a parent,” he said.

“We ended up sleeping in the same bedroom, in my bedroom for, like, sort of seven months.

“Sometimes you hear noises outside and you wake up in a panic and think someone’s in the house again, that’s been hard at times.”

Mr Lovell said when he initially heard their dogs barking on the fateful night he was not overly concerned due to their security system before opening the bedroom door to find two people standing in front of him.

Emma Lovell. Picture: Supplied

“It’s one of those things where like, I think your mind takes over and your body is just along for the ride really, so just just pushed them out the house,” he said.

“He was actually sort of lunging for me trying to sort of stab me in the back and then I think that’s when he sort of got Emma at the same time.”

In the darkness and confusion of the scuffle Mr Lovell said he realised their youngest daughter, Cassie, was standing at the front door and Emma was passed out on the front lawn.

“When Cassie came back she was like ‘mum’s bleeding’, I went ‘what do you mean she’s bleeding’ and looked at her left side and her night dress was just soaked in blood you know and then panic sets in,” he said.

It was his older daughter, Scarlett, who alerted her father he had also been stabbed.

Cassie Lovell. Photo: A Current Affair

“I suppose the adrenaline’s pumping really and you just don’t feel anything and then that fear goes through you and you just think ‘I just can’t die’, that was a bit of a tough moment,” he said.

Specialist paramedics performed open heart surgery on the mother while she lay on the front lawn before a hospitalised Mr Lovell was told she had not survived.

“I wanted to see her and jumped off the bed and walked through to see her without falling over really, sat on the bed and spent a bit of time with her.

“I was like, ‘I gotta get out of here’, so suppose the kids were my focus then, getting back to them.”

Scarlett Lovell. Photo: A Current Affair

Sixteen-year-old Scarlett said she understood teenage rebellion but did not expect it could go as far as breaking into homes with a knife.

“You can’t expect to walk into a house with a knife and say ‘oh it won’t get used it will be fun’, being woken up to a scream, that is a scream that no one should ever have to hear,” she said.

“(I miss) being able to talk to her, have her little hugs, everyone has their own definition of perfect but she was definitely my kind of perfect mum.”

Emma Lovell's widower, Lee Lovell, said his daughters are what gets him up in the morning while managing the grief of losing his wife, and best friend for 22-years. Photo: A Current Affair

Mr Lovell said he was disappointed the teen who killed his ‘best friend’ would be out of jail by the time he is 30 years old.

“Then they start talking about only having to do 70 per cent and then time served … how much more do you need to be doing to get a harsher sentence,” he asked.

“That’s what I’m not happy about … it’s the girls and I and other family members and even friends that will be left with this life sentence going forward and that other person gets to carry on with their life.”

Reflecting on the teens prior convictions he was shocked nothing was done sooner to get the teen more help.

“Time after time, crime after crime and just out on bail because we’ve got weak bail laws, no one seems to want to lock anyone up, it’s us people who are just the ones left to pick the pieces up afterwards,” he said.

“I suppose I just miss that connection, I miss being wanted, I miss being loved … the girls (keep me going) they’re the reason I get up in the morning.”

Originally published as ‘I miss being loved’: Emma Lovell’s family’s opens up about harrowing night of home invasion