❤️HER NAME IS MACKENIZE ANDERSON!❤️
Her name is Mackenzie Anderson. She was murdered on March 25, 2022.
Her killer will be sentenced to today. And he’s likely to get a reduction to his jail term off the back of a letter in which he blames Mackenzie for his decision to end her life.
Mackenzie was failed in so many ways. First, the man who killed her failed her by choosing murder instead of choosing to let her live a life free of violence.
Then the justice system failed her by releasing him on parole after he’d subjected her to ongoing violence throughout their relationship.
Then the domestic violence services failed her by not offering her the support she needed to keep safe.
And now, the courts may well fail her again by accepting his claims Mackenzie was violent – claims that have never been substantiated.
He wrote a letter to the court, which he hoped would reduce his sentence.
This is how he blamed Mackenzie. “The relationship was not all roses though as it was very physical with us both at times. Things would often get nasty between us and there were times when Mackenzie would use or make threats with weapons to me.”
Perpetrators blaming victims after murder is commonplace. These allegations can never be tested by the court and are always accepted as ‘truth’. Victims’ families almost always refute these claims.
21-year-old Mackenzie’s young son was the light of her life.
And Mackenzie was the centre of her mum Tabitha’s universe.
“The night I received the phone call that my daughter had been murdered – the world spun around me,” her mum told the sentencing hearing. “In that moment I felt that my soul was fractured.
“Along with the immense grief there is so much sorrow and guilt.”
After her death, Tabitha found evidence of Mackenzie’s desperate attempts to get help and be protected from her violent ex-partner.
“I never knew the extent of the violence Mackenzie had experienced until a couple of days before her death. She tried to hide it from me and deal with it due to her own shame,” she says.
“We picked up digital trails that told us so much about Mackenzie’s final weeks.
“She was sending emails to domestic violence advocacy groups begging for help … Mackenzie was convinced (he) would kill her and she was in fear all the time.”
One of the agencies Mackenzie reached out to sent a letter after she died. It reads: “We are letting you know we’re closing your request for support, because you are now dead and no longer qualify for support.”
Tabitha now advocates for Australians impacted by domestic violence. She hopes her work will save lives.
“Mackenzie did everything she should to try and keep safe but was constantly failed by the system,” she says.
“Her death was no surprise but a death in slow motion. The butterfly effect of her murder is beyond measure. My daughter received a life sentence of death and so did I.”
MACKENZIE ANDERSON MATTERS! ❤️
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