{"id":279597,"date":"2025-11-12T12:02:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T12:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/279597\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T12:02:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T12:02:11","slug":"grief-over-teenagers-murder-of-gran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/279597\/","title":{"rendered":"grief over teenager’s murder of gran"},"content":{"rendered":"

The family of a grandmother killed in a fatal stabbing that sparked landmark law reforms has broken down as they spoke of the horror attack’s impact.<\/p>\n

Vyleen White was killed by a teenager in a February 2024 car jacking outside a shopping centre witnessed by a young girl, sending shockwaves through Queensland.<\/p>\n

The 70-year-old’s death was a catalyst for the Queensland Liberal-National government’s controversial “adult crime, adult time” laws, ensuring juveniles face a potential life sentence for murder.<\/p>\n

\"VyleenVyleen White was killed by a teenager in a February 2024 car jacking outside a shopping centre. (Nine)<\/p>\n

A teenage boy, now aged 17, faced sentencing in the Queensland Supreme Court today after pleading guilty to murder over the horrific incident at Redbank Plains shopping centre, west of Brisbane.<\/p>\n

The fatal stabbing occurred as the teenager stole White’s 2009 Hyundai Getz hatchback.<\/p>\n

The teen appeared calm as heartbreaking victim impact statements were heard by Chief Justice Helen Bowskill in a court packed by White’s family and supporters.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe 70-year-old’s death was a catalyst for the Queensland Liberal-National government’s controversial “adult crime, adult time” laws. (Nine)<\/p>\n

White’s husband, who was in the gallery with his three daughters, expressed his anger over the “injustice” of his wife’s murder.<\/p>\n

“My wife and partner of 50 years is gone, and with her a part of me is gone,” Victor White said in a victim impact statement read by the prosecution.<\/p>\n

The victim’s daughter Denise broke down as she spoke in court, describing how her life had changed since losing her “anchor”.<\/p>\n

“The things that used to bring me joy … now they’re totally meaningless,” she said in her impact statement.<\/p>\n

The LNP campaigned hard on youth crime following White’s death and introduced tough laws after winning the 2024 election.<\/p>\n

The changes mean juveniles face adult jail terms for serious offences, including life terms for murder.<\/p>\n

But the laws are not retrospective, meaning White’s attacker could spend significantly less than 10 years behind bars.<\/p>\n

Crown prosecutor Chris Cook pushed for the maximum available sentence, saying the teen’s offending was significantly aggravated as the murder was witnessed by a young girl.<\/p>\n

“There was a lack of hesitation. (The teen) had other options for his aim of stealing car keys,” he said.<\/p>\n

Justice Bowskill heard the teen, aged 16 at the time, had been drinking vodka and committing “brazen thefts” of alcohol with other teens before the attack.\ufeff<\/p>\n

The teen was on bail for a violent armed robbery and admitted entering the shopping centre with the intent of stealing a car, the court was told.<\/p>\n

“He had a black hoodie. He had a surgical mask. He was covering his face,” Cook said.<\/p>\n

“He moved towards (Ms White) and brandished his knife. He stabbed her. He didn’t hesitate.<\/p>\n

“His motive was to get this car, to show off to his mates and potentially commit other crimes.”<\/p>\n

The teen showed limited remorse and presented a lasting risk to the community, he added.<\/p>\n

But the teen’s barrister Matthew Hynes pushed for the killer to serve half of a 12-year sentence and be released before he turned 25 because the murder was not premeditated.<\/p>\n

“He does need a long period of supervision in the community,” he said.<\/p>\n

The teen also pleaded guilty to car theft and three counts of stealing.<\/p>\n

Justice Bowskill adjourned her sentencing decision tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of a grandmother killed in a fatal stabbing that sparked landmark law reforms has broken down…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-279597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}