Tahlia Kay Eason sentenced in Rockhampton court for torching bully’s car

As the mother of a Queensland toddler who tragically died in a high-profile drowning was sentenced for a revenge attack on an online bully, her bombshell rap sheet was also revealed.

Tahlia Brown with daughter Taidyn "Totty" Murphy. Totty drowned in a spa at the family's Gracemere home.

From orchestrating the theft of $19k from her employer to stalking, a bombshell criminal record entry was revealed as the mother of a toddler who tragically drowned was sentenced for torching an online troll’s car.

Tahlia Kay Eason, 34, also known as Tahlia Brown, suffered the tragic loss of her daughter Taidyn ‘Totty’ Murphy in a drowning incident in September, 2022.

Eason and her now husband Cecil Murphy, were both subjected to an online bullying campaign by Murphy’s former short-term partner and a long-term friend of Ms Eason’s where they were accused of killing their own child with multiple fake online accounts created to carry out the harassment.

Cecil Murphy, and his wife Tahlia Eason, also known as Tahlia Brown, have both been sentenced over a revenge firebomb of an online bully’s car following a stream of abuse of baby Totty’s accidental drowning.

Rockhampton District Court heard that in retaliation, Eason instigated a revenge attack with the aid of Murphy and a third co-accused.

And it wasn’t the first time Eason and Murphy were involved in a serious criminal offence.

$19k bombshell: Couple’s shocking criminal record in NSW

Eason’s criminal record was revealed after she pleaded guilty on February 23 to one count of arson – motor vehicle.

Crown prosecutor Ken Spinaze said was working as a cashier in a metro service station in New South Wales eight years ago when she convinced “a person changing shift prior to her shift” to not bank the $19,000, suggesting the deposit machine was broken.

He said the money was secured away in the office area of the service station and Eason worked her shift, turned the alarm on when she left but left the doors unlocked.

Mr Spinaze said Eason had contacted Murphy and her brother during the shift and the two men attended her workplace after she left, taking the cash and cigarettes.

He said police found items stolen from the business and some of the cash with $10,000 outstanding.

Mr Spinaze said Eason was fired as a result and went on to stalk/intimidate the manager of the service station via Facebook.

He said one of the messages Eason, who was convicted of stalking, sent her victim read “want to keep running me down to other people, my cousin will be out there during your shifts and he doesn’t mind half killing somebody”.

‘Firebombed her car’: How latest crime was revealed

Mr Spinaze revealed the who and the how of the arson was exposed in a recorded conversation between Eason and one of her friends.

The trio drove around the carpark of the unit complex where Ms Eason’s long-term friend resided, trying to figure out which unit the woman lived in.

“Once the group had found the complainant’s home, they firebombed her car which was parked in a residential street,” Mr Spinaze said.

The firebombing of the $5,500 Kia Carnival occurred at 8.49pm on November 30, 2022, at Taigum – a northern suburb of Brisbane.

Mr Spinaze said police became aware of Murphy’s involvement from CCTV which led to a witness recording some conversations with Eason where it was revealed they had borrowed the car they were driving around in from a friend and later disposed of it before heading back to Central Queensland.

He said Eason also claimed she wasn’t there when the firebombing took place and told the witness “that’s what happens when you call Cecil a baby killer”.

Tahlia Brown with daughter Taidyn "Totty" Murphy. Totty drowned in a spa at the family's Gracemere home.

Mr Spinaze said Eason’s story changed with talking with police, first telling them she had “the intention of smashing her car and bashing the (victim) with a baseball bat”.

He said later in the interview, she minimised her involvement and gave two self-serving versions, firstly stating she was at the pub and secondly that she had no idea what the victim’s car looked like or where it was.

Murphy was sentenced in December 2023 to 2.5 years prison, wholly suspended and operational for 2.5 years.

He had suffered from PTSD, depression and anxiety since the drowning tragedy which his defence barrister Jordan Ahlstrand was “amplified” by the abuse from people “hiding behind profiles” on social media platforms.

Eason’s barrister, Maree Willey, had a similar story marred by additional sadness.

She said both of Eason’s parents were drug addicts, with violence in the family home and Eason finding her father had overdosed when she was eight years old.

Ms Willey said Eason had lived with her grandmother at times throughout her childhood, until she left school and moved north to work on banana farms.

She said Eason’s grandmother died seven months after Totty’s death.

Taidyn "Totty" Murphy. Totty drowned in a spa at the family's Gracemere home.

Ms Willey said the mother of three has post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and suffered panic attacks with her mental health declining after her daughter’s death.

She said Eason had her first child when she was 19 and has two other children with Murphy.

Ms Willey said the online bullying started before Totty’s death with the arson victim and her husband trying to get Eason fired from her job at the Rockhampton Airport via sending fake emails.

“Two days after the passing of her daughter, fake Facebook accounts were set up,” she said.

Ms Willey said messages were sent to multiple family members saying they “had blood on their hands”, accusing them of being responsible for Totty’s death despite no charges ever having been laid or any suggestion by police of wrongdoing.

She said there were “hundreds and hundreds of messages” from the fake profiles, one of which stated their occupation as “drowning instructor”.

Ms Willey provided letters from Eason’s general practitioner, psychologist and a mental health/ drug rehabilitation practitioner about her self rehabilitation.

She also provided four-pages of examples of the messages sent by the bullies.

While rebuking the negativity and criticism doled out by keyboard warriors on social media, Judge Jeff Clarke said the more appropriate reaction to the online bullying in this case would have been to report it to authorities.

“Although, I appreciate there is little ability to control others who want to waste their life doing these sort of hateful acts,” he said.

Judge Clarke handed Eason the same sentence as her husband – 2.5 years prison, wholly suspended with a 2.5 year operational period.

Originally published as Tahlia Kay Eason sentenced in Rockhampton court for torching bully’s car