Hayley was aged just 19 when she witnessed her uncle murder her nan and cousin at Lalor Park on Tuesday 8 September 2015.
Hayley said the night started out like any night, but when her uncle came home, he was not acting like himself.
She was in her bedroom when her nan called out to her, and on entering the lounge room, she saw her uncle was sitting on the lounge next her nan armed with a knife.
Thinking quickly, Hayley fled to the home of a neighbour to seek help and saw her grandmother run outside with her uncle in pursuit, still armed with a knife.
Her nan made it to the front yard of the neighbour’s home, where she was murdered.
Her uncle went back into the house, and knowing there were children still inside there, Hayley went to return. However, one of her cousins came to the neighbour’s door telling Hayley the uncle had her brother.
They waited for police inside the neighbour’s home with Hayley trying to keep her young cousin calm.
As soon as the police arrived, she went outside and saw the body of her seven-year-old cousin on the lawn. He too had been murdered by her uncle.
Her 35-year-old uncle was arrested nearby after a struggle with police officers. He has since been convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to a maximum of 40 years imprisonment.
Hayley said that growing up there was a lot of domestic violence in her household. She believes it’s generational, knowing her nan and pop, mum and brothers all lived through violence, and it seemed to be accepted as a behaviour they called normal.
It was common for her to wake up in the middle of the night to things being smashed and doors being kicked in, as well as screaming and yelling.
She said she would then just get up and go to school and act like nothing was wrong – living the saying of her nan, “what happens at home, stays at home”.
Eight years later, she is very aware that it is not normal, and she lives with the trauma of not speaking out.
If the app was around when she was a teenager, she said it would have been a handy tool when not confident or comfortable to come forward.
She knows people who’ve been victims in recent years, but their matters were thrown out of court because there wasn’t enough evidence, so to be able to write down what was happening safely, it gives an opportunity to come forward when you’re ready.
With her sister by her side, Hayley approached Blacktown Council to establish a memorial for victims of domestic violence, so family members have a place to sit and remember their loved ones not as statistics of abuse, but the reasons for change.
The sculpture is a giant teardrop, which represents women, and a smaller teardrop, which represents children, along with infinity signs throughout and charms inside representing the loved ones from three families who have lost their lives to domestic violence.
Titled ‘Contemplate’, the sculpture was designed by artist Yu-Fang Chi, and unveiled in Memorial Grove (Blacktown Showground, Richmond Rd, Blacktown) in October 2022.
