Rekiah O'Donnell killing: Melbourne mother forgives abusive ice addict who shot dead her daughter.

By court reporter Peta Carlyon.

The mother of a Melbourne woman who was killed by her abusive partner has forgiven her daughter’s killer and advised other young women in similar relationships to leave as soon as possible.

Rekiah O’Donnell, 22, died when her boyfriend, Nelson Lai, 35, fired a single shot into her head in his bedroom in Sunshine in October 2013.

Lai was charged with murder but told the Victorian Supreme Court he did not realise the gun was loaded and a jury found him guilty of manslaughter by negligence.

The court heard Ms O’Donnell had been a fiercely independent, loving young woman who wanted to be a counsellor before Lai, an ice addict, began abusing her.

The court heard their relationship had been characterised by domestic violence and controlling, jealous behaviour.

In an emotional victim impact statement, Ms O’Donnell’s mother Kerryn Robertson said Lai’s treatment of her daughter had ruined her life.

“Nelson, not only did you take away her life, you took away the person she was, her independent personality,” Ms Robertson said.

“She became someone who was controlled, beaten, tortured.

“The Rekiah who’d never give up on anyone … you took away her life way before you killed her.”

But Ms Robertson told Lai she did not want to be consumed by anger and hate.

“I’ll never understand how human beings treat each other, the way so many men treat the women they love,” she said.

“I forgive you, Nelson.

“I won’t let what you’ve done ruin my life. I hope you find remorse.”

Ms Robertson also told Lai’s parents she did not hold any bad feelings towards them.

Outside court, she said she hoped to reach out to families going through the courts and she hoped other young women in similarly abusive relationships could find the strength to leave.

‘Like a cat taunting a mouse’

Stuart Robertson, Ms Robertson’s partner, told the court his stepdaughter had made “a tragic error of judgement” and Lai’s behaviour was a “a pathetic display of cowardly aggression taken out on a defenceless innocent”.

“I likened it to a cat taunting a mouse,” he said.

Mr Robertson recalled the “revulsion, anger and frustration” he felt.

“I had to sit helplessly as she [Ms O’Donnell] sat weeping in my car, telling me Nelson had destroyed her life,” he said.

He said he offered her a flat to stay in and told her she had to get away from the relationship.

Lai sat in the dock bent over with his eyes on the ground, as Ms O’Donnell’s family and friends read out their victim impact statements.

Ms O’Donnell’s father, Craig O’Donnell, told the court words could not explain the loss of his daughter.

“What does a father say about the killing of his child at the hands of another?” Mr O’Donnell said.

“She is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.

“She is part of me. Her death is like the death of me. On the day she died, part of me died.

“It is a sacred bond.”

Mr O’Donnell said the nature of his daughter’s death at the hands of her partner was “the highest sacrilege”.

“Knowing that Rekiah’s life was not held in the highest value … it’s a loss that is irreversible,” he said.

“I’ll never talk to her, I’ll never walk with her, hug her, continue to watch her grow in all aspects of life.

“Rekiah’s death reaches out and affects our society. He [Lai] has shown contempt for our society.”

“How dare you?” Mr O’Donnell told Lai.

“You failed Rekiah.

“My daughter’s body lies in the ground beneath us … cold, dead, lifeless.

“That’s what we all must live with. Do not forget.”

Lai will be sentenced at a later date.

This post originally appeared on ABC news. It has been republished here with full permission.

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