Five teenagers arrested after stabbing death of Queensland grandmother in front of sixyear-old
Queensland police have arrested five teenage boys and charged one of them after the stabbing death of a 70-year-old woman at an Ipswich shopping centre, in front of her granddaughter.
Vyleen White had finished grocery shopping with her six-year-old granddaughter at Redbank Plains near Ipswich at about 6pm on Saturday when she was stabbed in the chest by a man in the centre’s underground car park.
White died at the scene a short time later after attempts to revive her failed. The young girl was unharmed.
The attack was allegedly a robbery gone wrong.
Queensland police on Monday arrested three 16-year-old boys and one 15-year-old boy in Ipswich.
Police said the boys were assisting with their enquiries but “no further information is available at this time” as investigations continue.
On Sunday night, a 15-year-old surrendered to officers at the Ipswich police station and was charged with one count of unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
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Det acting supt, Heath McQueen, revealed the alleged motive of what he called a “callous, cowardly, violent crime”.
“Sadly, the motive was to steal a Hyundai Getz,” he said on Monday afternoon.
“So I stand before you today to talk to you about a murder of a grandmother in front of her six-year-old granddaughter, and the result was a Hyundai Getz. That’s the motive, that is the motive.”
Police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, visited the area on Monday, telling media more than 40 detectives had been assigned to the case.
“And that’s not including the specialist units that have arrived from Brisbane, Taskforce Guardian, which was already here on one of its operations, tactical crime squad general duties police,” she said.
“We have thrown everything at this and we will continue to do so until we have identified all of the offenders and we bring them before the courts.”
Police have also deployed a mobile beat van at the shopping centre, in response to community concerns that the area has become a magnet for crime.
District officer supt Kylie Rigg said the van will stay in position for two weeks.
Police have also stepped up patrols in the area, including the mounted unit and the specialist youth crime task force.
“I have deployed police into the shopping centres and around the neighbouring suburbs. We have Taskforce Guardian here as well,” Carroll said.
On Sunday, police released the video of four males getting out of a 2009 Hyundai Getz in Springfield Lakes, not far from the crime scene, about half an hour after the 70-year-old was killed. Only one is believed to have been involved in the stabbing.
Floral tributes to White have been left at the Redbank Plains shopping centre as family and friends mourn.
A GoFundMe page organised by family friends had raised almost $11,000 by Monday afternoon.
“They have lost a mother, grandmother, a wife and loved family member,” the fundraiser page said.
“They are all so overwhelmed and so warm hearted by the community at such a difficult time.”
Katherine Lameree, the fundraiser said she hoped to raise money for White’s family but also let the community know about the grandmother’s legacy.
“She was such a selfless woman with so much care for her family and absolutely any one she came into contact with,” the page said.
“This is what they want her to be remembered by and not defined by the act of someone else.”
Ipswich Mayor, Teresa Harding, on Monday said the attack had shocked the community, describing it as a “punch in the guts” to locals.
Redbank Plains residents are calling for more police presence at the shopping centre after the attack.