I stretched out in bed and rolled my eyes at the sounds coming from the kitchen.
“Is it not a bit early for that?” I said to my mum, Sabrina, as I went through to make some breakfast.
She was blasting out her favourite reggae tunes.
“It makes me happy,” she smiled, bopping around.
Mum and I were very close.
She was a single parent and as I was her only child, we shared a particularly close bond.
Men were forever trying to woo her but I thought it would take someone really special to deserve my mum.
She was independent and didn’t seem to need a man to make her happy.
Mum and I were very close.
But not long after, she started seeing someone.
Ivan lived in the same apartment block as us. She was so excited about Ivan but I was wary.
At 24, Ivan was only two years older than me, and 14 years younger than Mum.
He wasn’t bad looking and worked as a roofer but I couldn’t see the appeal.
He never took her on dates.
They’d just hang around at his place or ours, listening to music and chatting.
One evening, when Ivan wasn’t around, I decided I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer.
“Mum, I’m not sure about Ivan,” I said.
“Why? He’s amazing, and he just gets me,” she replied.
“I can’t explain it,” I admitted.
I couldn’t put my finger on why I disliked him.
He’d never laid a finger on her and she doted on him. But I had a bad feeling and my partner Chaise felt the same.
We started giving Ivan a wide berth whenever he was around. In time, Ivan moved into the apartment too.
I kept telling Mum I didn’t like him but it didn’t get through. She was blinded by love.
Then, early one Sunday morning, Mum and Ivan burst into the bedroom, waking Chaise and I.
“Hayleigh, guess what…?” Mum squealed.
“What?” I groaned.
“We’re getting married!” she said, grinning from ear to ear.
“Oh,” I said, my heart sinking.
They’d only been together for four months.
Surely my independent mum knew better than to walk down the aisle with a bloke she barely knew?
Fortunately, before I had to plaster on a fake smile, Mum had dashed off to put on her reggae songs to celebrate.
Reluctantly, I got dressed so I could join her. I couldn’t help but smile to see her so obviously happy.
I put my feelings about Ivan aside and Chaise and I spent the day celebrating with them.
I kept telling Mum I didn’t like him but it didn’t get through. She was blinded by love.
They were in high spirits and I videoed them dancing together on my phone.
When it got late, Chaise and I went to bed.
“Goodnight princess, see you in the morning,” Mum said.
I could still hear the two of them laughing together, as I drifted off to sleep.
Next thing I knew, it was 5.30am and we were being woken up by shouting and banging. Chaise and I leapt out of bed, and I heard Mum shouting for help.
I tried to open the lounge room door to see what was happening but it wouldn’t budge.
I realised it was barricaded from the other side.
“Mum!” I yelled.
“Hayleigh, if you love me you will call an ambulance,” I heard her shout. “He’s stabbed himself and you need to save him.”
I fumbled for my phone, while Chaise banged on the door.
Ivan was ranting inside and his words chilled me to the core.
“I need to cleanse your soul,” he chanted.
He was asking Mum to drink his blood.
‘Devil worship,’ I thought, panicking.
To my horror, blood began seeping from under the door.
I stepped back and Ivan suddenly burst out of the room.
He lifted up his top and revealed stab wounds to his chest and stomach.
“I stabbed myself to join our blood together,” he rambled. “You know I loved her right? I’m sorry, I had to do it.”
Then he calmly left the unit.
Chaise and I rushed into the lounge room. When I saw the scene that confronted me, I screamed.
Mum was lying naked on the floor, carefully laid out on her dressing gown, covered with blood. Chaise tried desperately to revive her until the paramedics arrived.
They did their best but it was too late. Mum had stab wounds to her chest, and one had fatally pierced her heart.
Just hours earlier, I’d said goodnight to my bubbly, happy mum and now she was gone forever.
Police drove me and Chaise to the station.
I told the officers everything I knew.
That wasn’t much though. I didn’t understand how this had happened, or why.
I might not have liked Ivan but he’d never treated Mum badly before. He’d proposed then hours later he’d killed her.
I’ll never understand how that monster could propose, then just hours later stab his fiancée through the heart.
No-one knew where he’d gone.
It wasn’t until 4pm that afternoon that he was picked up.
He’d been seen by a member of the public walking into traffic, semi-naked and still bleeding from his self-inflicted stab wounds. A few days later, he was charged with murder.
It was a small comfort knowing Ivan had been caught. But the grief was almost too much to bear.
Chaise and I were put up in a hostel as our unit was a crime scene.
We had Mum’s funeral. It wasn’t an expensive service but it was rich in feeling. There were more than 100 people there to pay their respects to my much-loved mum.
I tried to give a tribute but it was hard to find the words. Mum was only 38 and none of this made sense.
Ivan denied murder and claimed he was mentally ill.
Up until that night, he’d shown no signs he was unwell.
In time, Ivan stood trial for murder. The court heard how Mum was stabbed to death by her own green-handled kitchen knife that had been a present from my grandmother.
Chaise and I gave evidence. It was heartbreaking to relive the night’s events. But I was determined to get justice.
Thankfully psychiatrists ruled Ivan was mentally fit.
The jury saw through his lies and Ivan Griffin, 24, was convicted of murder and jailed for 16-and-a-half years.
I hoped Ivan’s sentencing would bring me closure but I still can’t come to terms with my mum’s untimely death.
I’ll never understand how that monster could propose, then just hours later stab his fiancée through the heart.
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