❤️HER NAME IS KATE AMBER REEVE❤️
On that spring evening, he broke into her home, placed photos of her recently deceased brother on the loungeroom floor and set them on fire. Then he watched the home burn.
She, her partner and her dog never had a chance. And as her family’s world crumbled, they had to fight for him to be charged.
Her name is Kate Amber Reeve. She was only 22.
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Luthanuel Chambers killed Kate and her partner – 24-year-old Andrew Maple – on October 17, 2002 at Ballarat, Victoria. Chambers – who is also known as Dean Stacy Cummins – was charged with two counts of murder. He pleaded guilty to arson causing death and served just four years.
Kate was killed just two months after her beloved little brother Jacob died by suicide.
The past 24 years have been such an arduous journey for Kate’s parents Robyn and Mick.
Kate grew up in Ballarat and was very much adored by those who knew her. She was gregarious, smart, empathetic and she lived life her way.
“She was happy and friendly no matter what happened to her,” Robyn says.
“That was Kate. Nothing really fazed her. Katie was my gothic queen.”
Kate’s mother and father separated early in her life but when Robyn met Mick. He stepped in to raise Kate and her brother Ben as his own children, six years later Jacob was born.
In 2002, the family lost Jake to suicide. He was only 16.
“We’d only had an idea there was something wrong in the two weeks leading up to Jake’s death,” Robyn says.
“This is almost 24 years ago – mental health wasn’t spoken about that much back then.
“He’d started to lose weight. I called him the night rider because he was going out of a night riding his bike. I didn’t know what was going on.”
Kate and Jake were inseparable despite the six-year age gap. After Jake died, the family tried their best to navigate work, friends and all the parts of their lives that were previously normal.
Kate would spend every evening with her parents, helping them grieve and trying to maintain her strength.
“It’s really strange the way your mind thinks, because I thank God that I had that time with Katie,” Robyn says.
Kate had previously been housemates with Chambers – who bought chocolate and flowers to comfort her family after Jake’s death.
He broke into her home and set fire to photos of Jake on the lounge room floor using kerosene while Kate and Andrew were sleeping.
He left the house and went to a local lookout to watch it burn. Kate, Andrew and their dog died. It was only a few months after Jake passed away.
Chambers started on manslaughter charges but these were downgraded to arson causing death – he could have got 25 years but was ultimately sentenced to eight years and released after four years.
“We were told it wasn’t worth appealing – so we just let it go,” Robyn says.
“We didn’t have the energy. We didn’t have the emotional energy or the physical strength. We just were trying to survive as hard as that was.”
Robyn and Mick celebrate Kate and Jake’s birthdays without fail.
“It’s the day they were born,” Robyn says.
“We celebrate their lives.
“It’s their death anniversaries that I hate. I tune myself out of the world on their death days.
“We want everyone to remember Katie for who she was – not what she looked like, not what she did. Just for who Kate was.
“Katie was everyone’s best friend. And everyone that had Katie in her life loved Katie.”
KATE AMBER REEVE MATTERS❤️
