As a part of sentencing the murderer of Elle Edwards, the family were asked to provide a ‘Victim Personal Statement’ that was presented to the court.
Conner Edwards, Elle’s brother said that to “talk about my little sister is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life.”
He said, “I last spoke to Elle on Christmas Eve at 8:35pm. I had rang her, she didn’t answer but then rang me back.
“I was curious to know what the plans were going to be for Christmas Day as Elle was going to be cooking Christmas dinner with mum for the first time, usually Dad cooks.
“During our conversation, Elle said that she was in The Lighthouse, she had gone there last year and had had such a good time that she wanted to go back again. I reminded her that she was cooking the Christmas dinner the following day and she replied that she was with Lucy and that she would be home soon.
“I told Elle to have a good night, we said we loved each other. This was the last time we spoke.
“I was three years of age when Elle was born. We were born into a big loving family which had huge amounts of energy.
“Our childhood has many many happy memories thanks to our Mum and Dad growing up. We were brought up to love and respect each other, we were always out and never ever in. We had numerous family holidays and spent lots of time with our Grandparents.
“Me and Elle grew up side by side through our teenage years and were very close. We would argue of course as most siblings do but it was never anything serious.
“We had a great friendship which remained solid. We would have really good conversations, Elle would always compliment you, she knew what you were doing in your life and would make you feel good about yourself.
“I met my partner Kirby through Elle, Kirby and Elle were best friends. Myself and Kirby now have a four-year-old son Roman who Elle loved so much. As an Auntie Elle would spoil Roman and would often take him out with our Mum.
“How to explain to a four-year-old why Auntie Elle is no longer here is just impossible.
“He looks at pictures of Elle and points to the sky and tells his nursery teachers that he misses her. No four-year-old should be having these emotions and feeling the way he is.
“I find it so hard seeing my mum the way she is. She is just lost and is always waiting at the front of the house looking for Elle waiting for her to come home, it breaks my heart. Elle was as close as you could be to our Mum.
“They had the best Mother and Daughter relationship as you could ever have. Elle would help Mum with everything from shopping to just being there to talk to, keeping a smile on her face. Elle had time for literally everyone, she wasn’t shy she was fun and had a hug for everyone.
“In the early hours of Christmas day I was awoken to a flurry of calls and text messages saying that a girl had been shot in the head at The Lighthouse. I soon discovered that this girl was Elle.
“I remember driving to my Dads to tell him what had happened, I was absolutely petrified, how was I going to tell him?
“Dad had been waiting for Elle on Xmas Eve to go to his to wrap Xmas presents. I got to his house and told him that Elle had been shot in the head and that it didn’t look good. We went to the hospital to find out that Elle was no longer with us, our worlds fell apart.
“I returned home to our then three year old son just waking up on Christmas morning and opening his presents, having to sit there with a smile on my face for him.
“I can’t explain how I felt, I felt numb and traumatised. The days that followed were just horrific. Visiting my sister lying in the mortuary looking as beautiful as ever with a small patch above her right eye.
“That moment will never ever leave me, I shouldn’t have been there and she didn’t deserve this.
“Organising the funeral with my Mum and Dad for my little sister is the worst thing I have had to do. So what now and where do we go from here?
“I go to bed each night and wake up the next morning with a constant hit of grief.
“Our lives have been destroyed, to have someone so important as Elle in our lives to just vanish is nothing but horrendous.
“As a family, Christmas was our time, a special time when we were always together, we never missed a Christmas together. The fact that this happened at the time that it did it just horrendous.
“As a family, we loved Christmas, as long as we were together that was the most important thing.
“Elle was needlessly taken away from our family, I miss going into her room and just having a laugh with my sister.
“Attending court every day has been mentally and emotionally draining on us all, but we are a strong family and we have only become stronger.
“Sitting in court and seeing the person responsible for the senseless murder of my sister fills me with anger. He has shown no remorse and is nothing but a cold human being.
“Not only has he taken Elle away from us but we have been made to sit for the last four weeks listening in detail and watching on CCTV how my sister was killed. Watching the CCTV over and over again has been nothing but brutal, but we have all stayed strong together, nothing can take this family down we will get through it.
“Moving forward we have got no choice but to stay mentally strong. We have lost everything, but we have to carry on with life as best we can and be there for each other.
“My beautiful sister Elle Marlene Edwards, I love and miss you. I will cherish the twenty-six years we had together.”
Images: Elle Edwards/Family handout
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