EXCLUSIVE
The mother of an Indigenous woman accused of murdering her ex-boyfriend has claimed her daughter had been the victim of a series of domestic violence prior to the alleged tragedy.
Nikita Kirby, 31, was arrested near her sister’s home in Matraville, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, on Tuesday evening after emergency services were called about 6.15pm.
Moments earlier, her ex-boyfriend Scott Wallace, 37, had been found with stab wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“It’s been a rollercoaster of domestic abuse all our lives,” Nikita’s mother Ruth Kirby said outside Waverley Local Court on Thursday morning.
“And Nikita has held on for a long time.”
Nikita Kirby was arrested near the Matraville home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on Tuesday evening
In 2021, an AVO was issued by police in the NSW Local Court against Scott Wallace (pictured), for the protection of Ms Kirby
Mrs Kirby said she feared her daughter would be stabbed by her ex-lover.
“She had bruises all over,” she said. “She’s a mess. We are all.
‘He hit her and she had bruises all over. Does a woman deserve that or should she put up with it? She doesn’t deserve this.
“He was told not to go there and he went anyway.”
Mrs Kirby said the family had already suffered tragic heartbreak this year when her niece was murdered.
“These things still happen to us,” she said. ‘We go through a lot of things.
Kirby, 31, was charged with murder (domestic violence) on Wednesday, was refused bail and failed to appear at Waverley Local Court on Thursday.
She was supported by friends and family.
According to friends, the mother-of-one was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Wallace, who had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse.
“It’s been a rollercoaster of domestic violence all our lives,” Nikita’s mother Ruth Kirby (pictured) said outside Waverley Local Court on Thursday morning.
Nikita Kirby, 31, was charged with murder (domestic violence) on Wednesday. She is pictured during her arrest
The single-storey brick house in Matraville remained a crime scene on Wednesday morning
In 2021, an AVO was initiated against Mr Wallace by the police for the protection of Ms Kirby. That AVO lasted two years and ended in October.
On Wednesday morning, the one-storey brick house remained a crime scene, with officers from the Eastern Beaches Police Area Command and the State Crime Command’s homicide unit, as well as forensic police investigations.
Residents of Murrabin Avenue told Daily Mail Australia they saw a woman running up and down the cul-de-sac in the aftermath of the stabbing.
“She ran down the street screaming,” said one resident.
“It is a quiet family friendly street, we are shocked that this has happened on our doorstep.”
A local business owner said they saw the pair arguing outside the Matraville hotel earlier that afternoon.
The case was adjourned at Downing Center until August 6.