‘Mercy’ killer will read review
A woman jailed for killing her autistic daughter will read a review of disability services, prompted by the murder, before it is made public.
Blenheim woman Donella Knox is serving a four-year murder sentence at Christchurch Women’s Prison after smothering her 21-year-old daughter Ruby in 2016.
The murder prompted the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board to bring in leading paediatrician Dr Rosemary Marks to review its disability support services in May last year.
The review will focus on the transition from paediatric to adult care.
Ruby had made the transition shortly before Knox killed her.
It would also review what staff should do when a parent of a patient refuses help or treatment for their child.
Knox will get the chance to request particularly private details are withheld from the report released to the public.
The report has also been sent to the Ministry of Health, and is expected to recommend sweeping reforms to disability support services.
Ministry group manager for disability health services Toni Atkinson said the ministry was considering the report.
‘‘This was a difficult situation for all concerned and required much better coordination across a range of health services.’’
Knox had struggled to properly care for her autistic daughter, who had complex physical health problems and was sometimes violent towards her mother.
Justice Joe Williams said at Knox’s sentencing that the murder was ‘‘part mercy killing, part selfdefence’’.
Ruby was in and out of hospital during her life for surgeries and treatments, and Knox felt ‘‘totally hopeless and let down by the system’’, Justice Williams said.
However, a service co-ordinator wrote in a statement to the court that Knox received more respite care than anyone else in Marlborough, Justice Williams said.
‘‘The medical profession denied there was insufficient support.’’
Knox’s sentence was due to end in November 2020, but she became eligible for parole on March 30.
Judge Jane Lovell-Smith said in a decision released last week that Knox had not yet finished one-onone counselling. A psychological assessment could not be given to the Parole Board until her treatment was finished, and the board could not make a decision without it, she said.
The Department of Corrections would need 16 weeks to get the assessment together, Judge LovellSmith said.