Pregnant mum Dianne Miller fatally struck with concrete block in Perth as teen faces court

Warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers: This story contains the name and photos of someone who has passed away.

A relative of a pregnant woman, who was killed when a boy threw a piece of concrete into her head in a shopping center car park, had to be carried in tears from a courtroom in Perth.

Perth Children’s Court began sentencing the boy who fatally beat Diane Miller on Thursday afternoon.

The 30-year-old died at Royal Perth Hospital three days after being hit by the projectile at Waterford Plaza on Nov. 29.

The 17-year-old boy who delivered the fatal blow pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter.

CCTV footage of the attack was shown to the court, as were the moments before when two groups nearly came to blows.

She had been to the Karawarra shopping center just south of Perth’s CBD just before 7:30pm on November 29 with her partner Phillip Edmonds and several family members – including a baby.

At the same time, the convicted boy, who is a minor and cannot be identified, was also at Waterford Plaza with a group of teenage friends.

Prosecutor Clare Cullen told the court the trouble started when Mr Edmonds, who was driving the car with Ms Miller in it, thought one of the youths had thrown something at his vehicle, while the group of boys thought Mr Edmonds had something derogatory towards them shouted. .

Mr Edmonds parked his car and the situation took a turn for the worse, both groups yelling abuse at each other, with Mr Edmonds and one of the boys taking their shirts off as he and the group of youths armed themselves – Mr Edmonds with a tire iron, and the youths with bottles and metals stools from a nearby eatery.

Among them was the 17-year-old, who grabbed a 1.9 kg concrete block, about the size of a tissue box.

Diane Miller’s sister Alison and other supporters out of court

A relative of Ms Miller became inconsolable and had to leave the courtroom because a video played in court of the boy throwing the block.

The standoff between the two groups had ended and Mr. Edmonds drove away from the scene with Mrs. Miller, then 20 weeks pregnant, sitting in the passenger seat of their blue sedan.

CCTV footage from a neighboring day care center showed the moment when the 17-year-old, who had been hiding in the bushes behind a brick building that housed dumpsters, stepped out and hurled the piece of concrete, hitting Ms Miller in the temple.

In court, the boy kept his eyes downcast with his head resting on one hand as the footage was shown.

The blow caused her several skull fractures and bleeding in the brain. The blow also left Ms. Miller immediately unresponsive and she went into cardiac arrest when bystanders attempted CPR.

She was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital. Over the next few days, her pregnancy became non-viable and she was put on life support to give the family time to say goodbye, before Mrs. Miller passed away in the early hours of December 2.

The court was told that the boy had fled to a nearby park with some other boys in his group. He was taken home, where his family urged him to turn himself in to the police, but they arrived and arrested him later that night.

The boy’s lawyer, Kate Turtley-Chappel, read from a psychiatric report that said he had “deficiencies in all three domains of executive functions” and that during the incident he was “emotionally agitated, concerned for the safety of others ‘.

Waterford Plaza (pictured) is a mid-sized shopping center in Karawarra, a suburb of south Perth, on the corner of Manning Rd and Kent St, opposite Curtin University

Ms Turtley-Chappel argued that because of those shortcomings, the boy was unaware that the situation had escalated and that “he was unable to update the situation, the very relevant information to change his plan.”

She revealed that the boy was involved in fighting during his incarceration at Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Center, as well as being the target of threats.

“What we have before us today is someone who was taken away from their mother at a young age, exposed to domestic violence at a young age, exposed to alcohol abuse, homelessness,” Ms Turtley-Chappel said in her statement of mitigating factors.

“He’s someone with a different brain…his differences are related to his childhood, his FASD, his diagnosis of ADHD, his diagnosis of PTSD.

“He also has a language disorder … all actions that played into that day.”

However, Ms. Turtley-Chappel argued that all these shortcomings “did not diminish his ability to know that what he was doing was wrong.”

Relatives of the convicted boy were also in court.

The public gallery was warned by Judge Hylton Quail about disruptive outbursts during the proceedings.

The sentencing hearing before Judge Quail continues Friday.