Young mother jailed 14 years for killing partner
A young woman must spend at least seven years behind bars for stabbing her partner to death on their daughter’s first birthday.
Brendon Izac Lee Hamilton, 21, died after being stabbed in the neck at the apartment he shared with Rikki-Lee Simeon in Auckland in May 2019.
Simeon was found guilty of his murder at trial and sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment by Justice Neil Campbell at the High Court at Auckland yesterday.
The 20-year-old will have to spend at least seven years behind bars after Justice Campbell found it would be manifestly unjust for her to serve a sentence of life imprisonment.
In the early hours of May 18, 2019, the pair got into an argument in their kitchen after returning home from a party. Simeon stabbed Hamilton in the neck before leaving the property. He died from blood loss within minutes, the court heard.
Yesterday, victim impact statements were read to the court describing Hamilton as an amazing father, loving sibling and son. Hamilton’s mother, Adoniah Lorrigan, said all her son ever wanted was for his daughter to have a good upbringing. ‘‘[She] is still with me, and she loves her daddy so much, she talks to him, and she tells him what she did every day at daycare and always says ‘I love you daddy’, which is always hard to hear,’’ Lorrigan said. ‘‘I thought: this only happens in the movies, this isn’t true.
‘‘I was waiting for Brendon to walk in the front door with that big smile to light up the room, and then a few days later my son came through the front door in a coffin.’’ Lorrigan said she and some of Hamilton’s 11 siblings were receiving counselling because of the murder. Simeon apologised to Hamilton’s family and told them she accepted and understood what they thought of her.
Defence lawyer Paul Borich QC said a finite sentence should be imposed because of Simeon’s background, youth, and mental health at the time of the offending. ‘‘Her background in her relatively short life was one of extreme deprivation.’’
The court heard Simeon was raised by her maternal grandfather, a prominent gang leader.
She and Hamilton had a violent relationship, Borich said, and Simeon did not intend to take Hamilton’s life.
Justice Campbell told Simeon her upbringing had ‘‘normalised violence’’.