Yvonne Lulda, 37, sentenced to eight years behind bars after fatal Palmerston stabbing

A woman who killed her partner by stabbing him in the heart during a drunken fight in Palmerston last year has been sent to prison. Read what the judge decided.

A mum-of-two has been sentenced to eight years in prison for fatally stabbing her partner in the heart during a drunken fight.

Yvonne Lulda, 37, faced the Supreme Court on Friday after pleading guilty to reckless manslaughter for the death of the 26-year-old man at the pair’s shared unit in Gray last year.

Justice Sonia Brownhill said the “gravely serious” crime was another example of “drunk, violent offending against a domestic partner that happens far too much”.

Lulda and the victim met at a residential rehab facility in June last year where she had been paroled after stabbing a previous partner with a pair of scissors, cutting his artery.

Yvonne Lulda was sentenced to eight years behind bars for reckless manslaughter after the death of a 26-year-old man in Palmerston last year. Picture: Jason Walls

On July 7, a week after prematurely leaving the rehab program, Lulda started drinking with the 26-year-old and a group of friends.

Throughout the afternoon Lulda became angry with the 26-year-old and punched him a couple of times in the face before they went back to being “good to each other and kissing”.

By 6pm the pair were alone in the unit when during an argument Lulda picked up a 13cm kitchen knife and stabbed the man 10cm to 12cm deep in the chest, piercing his heart.

A neighbour who witnessed the attack and called triple-0 saw the man stagger backwards and collapse to the ground, with Lulda cradling him on the ground for several minutes.

Emergency services were unable to revive the man and he was pronounced dead at 8.46pm.

Lulda had left the scene and was found sitting on a kerb opposite the unit block with blood on her hands, initially denying her involvement in the stabbing.

Justice Sonia Brownhill described the offending as “gravely serious”.

“The offending comes from your extremely reckless decision made in anger,” Justice Brownhill said.

“He wasn’t armed and there is no evidence that he was threatening you in any way.”

Justice Brownhill said Lulda should have been “well aware” of the risk of bladed weapons given her previous conviction for the scissor stabbing.

A victim impact statement from the father of the 26-year-old remembered him as “a good young man” who was skilled at hunting and fishing.

“The victim was a much loved family member and his family is still grieving and miss him very much,” Justice Brownhill said.

Lulda was raised in Timber Creek and had struggled with alcohol abuse for decades after a difficult childhood, the court heard.

She had a long history as a domestic violence victim which included a brutal attack in 2016 while pregnant that left her blind in one eye.

She was given a non-parole period of five years.