Rikki Smith has eight children, but she celebrated her last Mother’s Day on May 9, 2010. She stopped when second-eldest child Cameron was killed, aged 17.
When she thinks about what happened she says she feels as if she is having a heart attack. ”Just trying to deal with the grief and the injustice breaks your heart.”
When Mrs Smith woke on the morning of November 7, 2010 she found her lanky, blue-eyed son half-wrapped in a blanket at the foot of the couch. He had complained of a lump on the back of his head, although she couldn’t feel anything, but she had worried about his strange, shallow snores.
Cameron turned blue while she was grocery shopping. She arrived home to find three ambulances in front of their house. She discovered he had been punched.
The night before, Mrs Smith had reluctantly let Cameron, his older brother and some friends walk to a Pakenham fast food shop.
During the short journey he was approached by his killer, who punched him suddenly. He fell back and hit his head on the road. He was out cold for 10 minutes.
Two days later, Cameron’s life support was turned off and his organs donated. His killer was released after slightly more than a year in juvenile detention.
Mrs Smith believes her son will get justice only when some of the lessons from his killing are learnt.
His attacker, who was under 18 and cannot be named, had downed 15 vodka energy drinks before the attack. He had knocked another boy unconscious the weekend before.
Mrs Smith wants first aid taught in schools, a ban on alcoholic energy drinks and tougher laws for one-punch offenders.
”If they start getting tough, maybe kids will think ‘I better not punch that guy because it could be 10 years in jail rather than three’.”
