Mum haunted by last conversation with daughter before her brutal murder

Tabitha Acret's only daughter, Mackenzie Anderson, was brutally murdered in 2022 at the age of 21.

Not a day goes by that Tabitha doesn't think about her, about all the milestones she is missing and, all the things Mackenzie was going to do with her life.

"I'll never get to see her at her wedding, I'll never get to see her for her birthday," the distraught mum tells 9honey.

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Tabitha says she had a bad feeling about her daughter's boyfriend Tyrone Thompson from the get go.

"The first time I met him, I did not like him. Mackenzie had just saved up for a car and paid for it. He came over and the first thing he said was, 'That car's kind of crap.' And I said, 'Where's your car?'

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"So I said something to her about how I didn't like him, but at this stage he [Tyrone] was living in Sydney and I was living on the North Coast. And then COVID lockdown happened.

"When it was the first lockdown they started dating."

"We like to think we're close to our daughters, but sometimes they don't tell us things, especially when they know we're concerned."

Mackenzie and Tyrone broke up, and Mackenzie moved away from home to Newcastle, assuring her mother she was fine, it was over, and not to worry about it.

"They got back together again, and I had expressed that I was very unhappy about that," Tabitha recalls.

She only found out Mackenzie had been assaulted by Tyrone earlier in their relationship, after her daughter had been murdered.

"If I'd found out about it, I would have got her out. She had an AVO, but that's the other part. There's no protection. He broke that AVO more than six times in two weeks, which was a breach of his parole."

She remembers their last conversation, a phone call with Mackenzie before her brutal slaying. Tabitha knew her daughter's relationship was toxic, and had begged her to get out.

Not long after that phone call, Tyrone ended Mackenzie's life by stabbing her 78 times in three minutes in Mackenzie's Mayfield unit.

Mackenzie's step-father, received the call. He rang Tabitha and told her she needed to come home.

Her daughter was gone, and Tyrone was arrested and charged with her murder. Tabitha thought justice would be served, and her daughter's killer would never walk the streets again.

Tyrone was sentenced to a maximum of 22 years, with a non-parole period of 15 years and six months.

The Crown immediately appealed, asking for a longer sentence.

At the end of August, the Crown lost an appeal against the sentence, meaning in 15 years time, he may be out.

The three judges in the Court of Criminal Appeal ruled that the sentence was "within the range of recent sentences".

Tabitha was bereft by the decision.

"So this all concludes and you're told there's no more options."

Tabitha has now lodged a formal complaint with the Humans Right Commission against NSW Justice for gender discrimination, to protest sentences being handed out in cases such as her daughter's murder.

In Australia, an average of one women is killed every week by a current or former partner. Murder in Australia can be punished with life imprisonment and manslaughter can result in a 20-25 year sentence.

Tabitha worries lower sentences like the one her daughter's murder will continue to maintain a precedent.

"They'll get potentially less and less and less and less and less. I've asked for a mandatory mandate."

She also struggles with the thought that once free, Tyrone will start dating again.

And the women he dates will have no idea they are dating a murderer.

They'll possibly see his profile on a dating app, where he doesn't have to declare any of his past arrests for domestic assault and ultimately for murdering Mackenzie.

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Tabitha has since launched a petition calling for law reform for domestic violence murders including minimum sentencing when an AVO is breached in conjunction with a violent assault or murder and for child witnesses to domestic violence murders to be legally considered victims of the crime.

She currently has over 45,000 signatures and a federal member to sponsor the petition and raise it in parliament.

"My hopes for the petition is that we have legislative change that protects women, that AVO breaches come with more weight and that children are recognised for the victims that they are."

If you or someone you know is in need of support due to domestic or family violence contact 1800RESPECT on 1300 737 723.

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