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- When Lee received a call after Christmas to say that her daughter Alicia was leaving her fiance she was incredibly relieved.
- But tragically Alicia never made it to safety and was found run over by her fiance, left for dead.
- Seven years since Alicia’s death Lee is horrified women are still losing their lives.
- She’s fighting on in Alicia’s name to keep women in Australia safe from Domestic Violence.
Here Lee Little, 71, Melbourne, Vic, shares her heartbreaking story in her own words.
The magnetic smile spread across my daughter, Alicia’s face.
‘He’s spoiling me, Mum,’ she grinned showing me another gift from her new partner Charles.
I should have been pleased that my beautiful bubbly daughter, then 37, had found love. But mother’s intuition told me I couldn’t trust Charles.
Overly affectionate and generous, his behaviour felt over the top to me.
‘Mother’s intuition told me I couldn’t trust Charles’
Alicia had always drawn people to her like a moth to a flame.
As a young girl, she and her older brothers, Bronson and Heith, travelled with me and my hubby, Bronco, in the circus.
Alicia loved working with the animals and was a talented aerialist.
As she got older she didn’t have much luck in relationships, but she adored her children, Ariki, Beau, Morgan and Aasha.
In 2013 she met Charles at the Melbourne Show where she was working.
Their relationship progressed quickly, and they were living together in a matter of months, along with Beau, then 15, and Ariki, 16.
But cracks soon started to show as they rowed often.
READ MORE:Sister’s last phonecall – murdered just minutes from home
In May 2015 Alicia called me for advice. ‘How do I cook crackling, Mum?’ she asked, wanting to perfect her pork roast.
She loved showing her family she cared through food. But I heard shouting in the background and worried if Alicia was safe.
Later that night though, I had a call from police to say Alicia had been charged with assault, having bitten Charles.
‘You’ve got the wrong person,’ I gasped.
Bronco and I rushed to pick up her along with Ariki. Beau had moved out by then.
Shaken, Alicia explained she’d only hurt him in self defence, claiming he’d climbed on top of her.
‘Don’t go back to him,’ I pleaded with her. ‘
Knowing she was seen as the aggressor made her lose faith in the police.
‘Don’t go back to him,’ I pleaded with her.
‘I won’t,’ she promised.
Over the next few weeks, Alicia spoke to family violence counsellors and she seemed so much happier.
But Charles eventually convinced her to move back in. ‘I think he’s really changed,’ she assured me, a natural nurturer always wanting to fix people.
That November the charges against her were dropped and things between them settled down.
But the next year Alicia told me Charles had been violent. Horrified, I saw bruises on her body, but she refused to report him.
READ MORE: Evil boyfriend killed my girl over a photo
She and Ariki came to stay with us, and I prayed she’d leave him for good.
But it didn’t last. Charles kept talking to her and she went back to him again.
I was terrified for her safety. Ariki stayed with Bronco and I.
When Alicia and Charles moved away to Kyneton, Vic, in May 2017, I worried about her safety.
Then in October, Alicia came to visit. She admitted Charles had grown increasingly jealous. He’d check her phone to see who she was speaking to and would accuse her of cheating on him.
‘Mum if something happens to me, make sure you bring me home,’ she said nervously.
It sent chills down my spine.
I couldn’t believe it when, two months later, Alicia and Charles came to see us together.
‘I want to marry Alicia,’ Charles said, asking Bronco and me for our blessing.
‘I don’t think it’s a good idea,’ I said, and they left hurriedly.
‘Mum if something happens to me, make sure you bring me home,’ she said nervously.
They got engaged regardless. Then two weeks later, on December 28, Alicia called me.
‘I’m going to leave him for good,’ she said, explaining she was packing her bags.
But in the background I could hear shouting.
‘Bring your brother, bring your uncles. I don’t care… I’ll go through the lot of them,’ Charles spat.
A short time later, she called again. ‘My bags are packed at the door. I’ve got this, Mum,’ my girl said.
‘I love you. Don’t forget to ring triple-0,’ I warned, desperate for her to get in the car and leave.
Just under two hours later, I was folding washing as the 5pm news bulletin played on TV. Suddenly, an image of Alicia’s BMW flashed on the screen, and the anchor reported a woman had been killed in Kyneton.
I just knew. Not my girl, I broke down.
At 7pm the police knocked on my door.
‘I’m sorry,’ an officer said, confirming my worst fears. I hadn’t wanted to believe it was true.
My baby girl was dead. She was just 41 years old.
‘She’d been crushed against the concrete water tank on their property. ‘
Alicia’s devastated father and I drove 230 kilometres to Alicia’s place. Police explained they’d found her unconscious after she’d been struck by Charles’ Toyota Hilux. It seemed like she’d been
crushed against the concrete water tank on their property. She’d suffered severe blunt trauma, fractures to her ribs, scapulae, and pelvis, extensive bruising to her back, lacerations on her liver and lung contusions, among other injuries.
Charles was arrested later that day and charged with murder.
Horrifically, I had to break the news to my daughter’s children.
‘Your mum’s gone,’ I said gently as they sobbed.
Two weeks later 1100 people came to farewell Alicia as we laid her to rest. Afterwards, I was crippled with guilt.
I should have done more to get her to leave, I tortured myself.
In August 2019, Charles Evans appeared in Melbourne Supreme Court, after his charge was downgraded to one count of dangerous driving causing death and one count of failing to render assistance after a motor vehicle accident.
He pleaded guilty to both charges.
The court heard that on the day of her death, after speaking to me, Alicia had phoned police at 3.41pm, asking them to remove her drunk and abusive partner. She then phoned a friend who recalled
their chat being cut short when Evans snatched the phone from Alicia.
Justice Taylor labelled his actions as ‘the result of cowardice, callousness and selfishness.’
When officers arrived at 3.57pm, they found my girl lying on her back next to the water tank, foaming at the mouth.
The judge, Justice Lesley Taylor, ruled that, after Evans took Alicia’s phone, it was likely she followed him outside to retrieve it when he fatally struck her with his car.
An ambulance was called by police, but she couldn’t be saved.
Evans had fled the scene of the crime. Instead of calling for help, he’d left my daughter to die.
Justice Taylor labelled his actions as ‘the result of cowardice, callousness and selfishness.’
Reading my victim impact statement, I stared straight at Evans. ‘I was sentenced to live a life that is now empty, with no colour, no joy, no purpose… a place that reeks of agony and despair.’
In September 2019, Charles McKenzie Ross Evans, 45, was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, with a minimum of two years and six months. He was disqualified from driving for five years.
No amount of time would bring my girl back.
In August 2020, Evans was released from prison, taking into account time already served.
A coronial inquest in December 2022 revealed that Alicia had been wrongfully identified as the ‘primary aggressor’ of family violence against Evans. Judge John Cain concluded she’d been subjected to a history of verbal and physical attacks from Evans.
Determined that no other woman would die the way Alicia did, our family launched a petition for the government to establish a national domestic violence register. To date it’s amassed more than 57,000 signatures.
‘I know Alicia would be proud of us all.’
I’ve also had support from other parents who’ve lost daughters to gender-based violence, including Sue and Lloyd Clarke, whose beautiful daughter Hannah was murdered by her estranged husband, along with their three children in Queensland in February 2020.
Seven years on, not a day goes by when Bronco and I don’t think of Alicia.
The ripples of her death have affected so many, especially her devastated children.
Ariki, now 27, and Beau, 25, live with me, and her brothers Bronson and Heith still miss her desperately.
I know Alicia would be proud of us all.
I’ll never stop fighting in her memory.
If you’ve been affected by this story, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 (Aus) or 0800REFUGE on 0800 733 843 (NZ).
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