Olivia Stevens ATV rollover death: Mother reveal has now revealed the three questions that will always haunt her

The mother of a six-year-old girl who died in a buggy accident during a planned sleepover has told a court her life has been “a living hell” for the past three years.

Olivia Stevens was crushed to death when her classmate’s father’s Polaris ATV overturned after hitting previous tire tracks in the front yard of their Rosedale home in Victoria’s Gippsland region on September 11, 2021.

The vehicle was driven by Damien Gibson, 36, and the four-seater was carrying seven children without child seats, including five of his own.

Gibson reappeared in the Victoria District Court on Monday after agreeing to a maximum five-year jail term and pleading guilty to drink-driving causing death last month.

The court was told that Olivia and her mother, Jana Stevens, had visited the Gibson family for a planned barbecue and overnight stay, arriving at 2.30pm.

Shortly before 4pm, Mrs Stevens left to pick up her eldest son from an event, but Olivia, who was in the pool, wanted to stay.

A few minutes later, Gibson was taking the children out of his new buggy, which he had purchased less than a month earlier, and rolled the buggy over when he attempted to make a sharp right turn in the tall grass.

Olivia was thrown from the ATV and crushed by the roll bars. She was pronounced dead after being flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Jana Stevens answered the questions that have been going through her mind every day since Olivia’s death in court on Monday.

“Did she know she was dying? Did she call out for her mother and father? Was she in pain?” she asked.

‘I thought for a long time that maybe she had been forgotten under the stroller because the other children were screaming, and that she was probably quiet.’

Prosecutors told the court that neither driver was wearing a seatbelt or helmet. Gibson’s offense was described as “gross negligence” in his decision to drive.

“A very clear message must be sent to the community: these vehicles are not toys,” the prosecutor said.

Olivia’s mother, Jana Stevens (pictured), told the court that her life has been a living hell since that fateful day and the only reason she can keep going is because of her two sons.

Yana Stevens told the court she remembered the moment she got the call to come back as “the moment the world collapsed on me”.

‘Olivia was an incredible child…she was the emotional glue in our family.

“There’s never a moment that we don’t think about her. It’s like we’re stuck in the pain.”

Mrs Stevens said her life has been a living hell since that fateful day and she can only carry on because of her two sons.

She wondered why it had taken nearly three years for Gibson to take responsibility.

Olivia’s father, Scott Stevens, told Gibson he would never forgive him.

“Olivia was the light and soul of our family, you took that away from us,” he said.

“You have blackened my dreams, you have taken away our happiness and mine.”

Olivia was remembered by her mother as the emotional glue of the family

Gibson’s lawyer, Peter Morrissey SC, told the court his client was not a bad person, he ‘just thought he was better than he was’.

“His own children were in that vehicle, there was a terrible arbitrariness about who was ultimately killed,” he said.

Mr Morrissey said Gibson would “repent until the day he dies” and that he had written a letter of apology, but he would not read it in court because he did not want to respect Mrs Stevens’ wishes.

Gibson will be sentenced by Judge Richard Maidment in October.