Child sentenced over crash that killed Sheree Robertson, Michale Chandler and Kelsie Davies

An inconsolable Qld mother says she “can’t find joy anymore” as she and the family of a beloved nurse killed in a triple-fatal sharing heartbreaking new revelations and the sole survivor reveals her torment for the first time.

The mother of 17-year-old Kelsie Davies says she is trapped in a recurring nightmare, wondering how her beautiful dancer daughter spent her final moments on a dark road where two other innocent women died beside her.

“Was she scared?”

These three words haunt Susan Marquis who joined the family of 52-year-old nurse and mum Sheree Robertson on Monday in speaking outside Hervey Bay District Court, where a 13-year-old boy faced a sentencing hearing over the crash which also claimed the life of popular youth pastor Michale Chandler.

The boy, now 14, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is has pleaded guilty to causing the crash and the three deaths on Saltwater Creek Road in Maryborough on April 30, 2023 but won’t learn his fate until he is sentenced next month.

Wearing a shirt emblazoned with her daughter’s image, Ms Marquis said it was “heartbreaking” to be in the same room as the teen who the court heard had bragged of his crime to his juvie mates.

“Because I know he’s not remorseful,” she said.

“He hasn’t accepted what he’s done.”

Oakhurst’s Kelsie Davies died when a stolen vehicle being driven by a 13-year-old boy, crashed into the back of the Holden she was driving.

Ms Marquis said she didn’t believe the teen had tried to apologise to the families and if he did write a letter from his heart, it would “possibly” make a difference.

It and any sentence passed however would “never be enough”.

The loss of her daughter was something she would have to live with “forever” and there was “no joy, I can’t find joy anymore”.

“I can’t go past the crash site without thinking about her last moments, her last breath,” she said.

It’s a nightmare, it really is - it’s a nightmare.”

Describing her daughter as “amazing”, she said Kelsie loved to dance.

“She’d dance around the house, she’d go into work at Reach (Church) and she’d be dancing around you, she used to get the pastor to dance, and he doesn’t really dance.

“She was always happy, she always wanted to help people. She was so passionate about the youth.”

Susan Marquis says she’s haunted by her daughter Kelsie’s final moments.

‘HIT HOME’: NURSE’S FAMILY HEAR TERRIBLE TRUTH FOR FIRST TIME

For the family of Sheree Robertson, hearing in court for the first time that she wasn’t killed instantly in the crash was another cruel blow.

Speaking outside the court, Ms Robertson’s sister, Lisa Latimer, said knowing she’d been alive for a short time after the crash, trapped in her car and left screaming for help, really “hit home” for her loved ones.

Sheree Robertson was one of three women whose lives were tragically cut short in a horror crash.

There were also mixed emotions about seeing the teen in court.

“I tried to look at him, but he would not look at us whatsoever and it’s just like, ‘please take responsibility for what you’ve done, just acknowledge that we are here’, but no, he didn’t,” she said, adding she did not believe he was sorry after hearing he had been boasting in the detention centre.

“I really feel that he may feel remorse later in life, but at the moment, no. He’s very young,” she said.

Lisa Latimer, sister of Sheree Robertson.

Ms Robertson had finished her shift that night and there were “so many circumstances” that meant the nurse finished on time and didn’t stay back like she usually would, which led to her being on the road at that time, Ms Latimer said.

She said her sister was beautiful, loud, funny, a devoted mum and she had loved her work at Maryborough Hospital.

“She was just, I don’t know, she was just my sister.”

‘DARKEST MOMENT OF OUR LIVES’

Both Ms Latimer and Ms Marquis told the court about the pain the teen had caused.

Ms Latimer began by saying the “vital part” of her family had been taken away and the moment of losing her sister was “the darkest moment of our lives.”

“Sheree was a vibrant, passionate, and loving person”, she said.

“Her loss has left a void that can never be filled.”

Sheree Robertson, 52, a nurse from Maryborough Hospital, was killed in the crash. She is pictured with her son, Ben

She detailed how her sister was the mother and sole caregiver of her son, who she described as “the person he relied on the most”.

Ms Marquis described Kelsie’s death as having “my heart ripped from my chest”.

“I still struggle to go into town, crying as I drive,” she told the court.

“She’s my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night”.

‘SURVIVOR’S GUILT’: CRITICALLY HURT 24YO’S FIRST WORDS

With her two friends and a dedicated nurse dead and her own life on the line, newlywed Kaylah Behrens’ bone protruded from her leg as her brain swelled and she screamed from the wreckage of the crushed car.

Only she and the 13-year-old boy, who whined about his “sore toe” after causing the “carnage” had survived.

This week the court heard the 24-year-old was racked with “survivor’s guilt” and would forever bare the physical and emotional scars.

She suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in the crash, a victim impact statement read by Crown Prosecutor Chris Cook said.

The impact on her had been “catastrophic” and she had significant scarring that would be with her for life.

Kaylah Behrens: “I also suffered a traumatic brain injury which placed me in a medically induced coma for 10 days to control the swelling in my brain.”

“The injuries I sustained in this accident were severe,” the statement read, explaining she required immediate surgery on her leg, after the crash left her with a bone “protruding” from her leg.

“I also suffered a traumatic brain injury which placed me in a medically induced coma for 10 days to control the swelling in my brain.”

While Ms Behrens could now walk, she was unable to run as a result of the injuries of the crash, the court heard.

Kaylah Behrens: “Losing two close friends in the accident has left a deep emotional scars.

“Losing two close friends in the accident has left a deep emotional scar,” she said in the statement.

“I struggle with survivors’ guilt and have been diagnosed with PTSD.”

Michale Chandler was also killed in the crash. She was travelling in the same car as Kaylah and Kelsie.

Ms Behrens only recently returned to full-time work, which left her family in a “challenging financial situation”.

“The life I once had is now permanently altered.”

The sentence is being heard before Judge Gary Long and has now been adjourned until December 5 in Maroochydore District Court.

Shock croc sighting reported in Burnett River

‘Missed more than words’: Funeral set for mechanic after boating tragedy

Originally published as Child sentenced over crash that killed Sheree Robertson, Michale Chandler and Kelsie Davies