CW: CONTAINS THE NAME AND PHOTO OF A MURDERED ABORIGINAL WOMAN
‘I don’t want you to say something that means we’re going to have to start taking some action in relation to domestic violence. If you are going to say anything, leave it until we get out of here.’ This is what police said to the man who killed Kardell Lomas.
Traven Lee Fisher was a violent thug, who was very much known to police and had a long criminal history.
Yet, when 31-year-old Kardell begged cops for help, they warned her abuser not to do anything until they had left the scene or they’d have to ‘arrest him for DV’.
Six months pregnant, Kardell was killed and dumped in the boot of a car in the backyard of a home in Raceview, Qld, in December of 2019.
Kardell repeatedly sought help from police, domestic-violence services and other support agencies. There were at least 24 interactions with authorities where she disclosed serious threats, violence, coercion and fear for her and her child’s safety.
She said Fisher – her partner – controlled her finances, isolated her from family and friends, harmed her, threatened her with violence and prevented her from leaving.
A support service flagged multiple serious risk factors, including that she was trying to leave, threats to kill, stalking, assault with a weapon and strangulation. But she was never flagged in the high-risk system, because the staff member could not access the portal needed to make the entry.
Kardell told police her partner had threatened to kill her and her son. They attended and only took down his story before concluding there was ‘no DV offence’.
Neighbours once contacted police about a verbal argument but when officers arrived no one answered the door.
Cops determined there was no domestic violence because the occupants ‘speak loudly with occasional swearing’.
Police repeatedly took no protective action to keep Kardell safe, including making a protection order, despite the very obvious risks to her safety and the violent history of her partner.
One police body cam recording shows police speaking to Fisher. One officer says: “There’s obviously a little bit more going on with her maybe that none of us know about, you know? There’s obviously something going on there that’s not quite right. Don’t go up there, mate. I know you get a bit fired up. And I don’t want you to say something that means we’re going to have to start taking some action in relation to DV or something. If you are going to say anything, well, just leave it until we get out of here.”
The officer then radios dispatch and says: “There’s not much really going on here – a bit 504-ish”. Queensland police use 504 as code for ‘mental health’.
Cops put Kardell into the paddy wagon and drove her to her aunt. Despite her obvious risk, they marked the job as ‘no DV offence’, the Guardian reports.
Kardell suffered multiple fractures and abrasions consistent with blows and pressure to her neck, but her cause of death is not known. Her unborn baby was also killed. Fisher hid her body, told relatives she had taken off and sent messages to her phone asking if she was ok to try to hide what he did.
Fisher was charged with murder, but as with so many femicides, this was downgraded to manslaughter. He was sentenced to 14 years – with parole he will serve only 9.7 years.
The Queensland coroner refused to hold an inquest into her death, saying ‘there does not appear to be any prospect of making recommendations that would reduce the likelihood of similar passings occurring in future’.
Without an inquest, there can be no examination of the police and support service failures and this means there will be no accountability – or change.
“My sister trusted them enough to do what she was doing, like asking for help,” Kardell’s brother Adair told the Guardian.
“What if Kardell was white, what would have happened? I think the police and the system would have taken her seriously.”
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