“She’ll never graduate from high school, she will never get married and she will never have kids of her own.”
Last night, news broke that a man had been arrested in relation to the death of 11-year-old Zoe Buttigieg, whose body was found in a bedroom of her family’s Wangaratta home on Sunday morning.
The 29-year-old Mildura man has now been charged with one count each of murder, sexual penetration of a child under 16 and indecent act with a child under 16.
Over a slide show of images of the little girl, Today host Karl Stefanovic paid tribute to her, barely able to control the emotion in his voice.
“In the last week we have been shocked and shamed, again, by violence against children,” he said.
“Look at that face. Zoe was 11 and she was allegedly raped and killed.
“She’ll never graduate from high school, she will never get married and she will never have kids of her own.
“She is one year older than my daughter.”
Watch the segment in full here (post continues after video):
The accused, who is expected to appear in court this morning, was found wandering without shoes on the Hume Highway, hours after Zoe’s death.
He is believed to be an acquaintance of the family who attended a party at their house on Saturday evening.
You can read more on this here.
Top Comments
This crime has me absolutely furious! Parties every other weekend. Children left unsupervised. So sick of this kind of thing happening. Take care of your kids, they're only you for a short time in your life. Surely you can live with the inconvenience of not partying for the sake of your kids safety!
I am not a fan of Karl on Nine's 'Today' and I usually can't stand him and his on-screen antics and tom-foolery.
But, credit where credit is due ... this is Karl Stefanovic's finest effort to date, speaking out for someone who cannot.
Kudos to you, Mr Stefanovic, for taking the time and making the effort to do this shocking story well.
Rest in peace, Zoe Buttigieg.