The mother of a woman jailed for murdering her elderly housemate has spoken out, saying she’s glad her daughter is behind bars.
Mary K Pershall made the extraordinary claims in a new piece which reveals how her daughter was denied government care before she was led to commit the crime.
Last year Anna Horneshaw, 29, was found guilty of murdering her 67-year-old roommate Zvonimir Petrovski at their Melbourne unit and was sentenced to a maximum of 17 years jail.
The mother of Anna Horneshaw (pictured), who was jailed for murdering her elderly housemate has spoken out, saying she’s glad her daughter is behind bars
Mary K Pershall made the extraordinary claims in a new piece which reveals how her daughter was denied government care before she was led to commit the crime
It is believed the spat erupted after Mr Petrovski refused to give Anna, who was 20 weeks pregnant, the $70 she requested to buy cigarettes with.
Now three years since the brutal stabbing, Ms Pershall has opened up about her family’s continuous battle to obtain mental health care for their daughter.
In a moving first-person piece for news.com.au to promote her new book Gorgeous Girl, Ms Pershall also revealed how they had ‘watched with amazement’ at Anna’s positive progress in prison.
‘My daughter Anna is in jail. She belongs there,’ she wrote.
‘In jail she is finally getting the help we’ve begged for, for so many years. It’s just a tragedy it took a man’s death to get her that help.
‘She should have been helped many, many years before it got to this point.’
Ms Pershall went on to explain how her daughter had suffered from mental health issues since childhood, which later transpired into substance abuse.
Last year Anna Horneshaw, 29, was found guilty of murdering her 67-year-old roommate Zvonimir Petrovski at their Melbourne unit and was sentenced to a maximum of 17 years jail (pictured during childhood with her sister Katie)
Now three years since the brutal stabbing, Ms Pershall has opened up about her family’s continuous battle to obtain mental health care for their daughter
Last year Anna’s sister, Katie Horneshaw told Daily Mail Australia how the family had long advocated for her care before she committed murder. ‘Anna was living in chaos; her mental illness had robbed her of the ability to do the simplest of things, like shopping for food or filling a prescription,’ she said
This behaviour included a suicide attempt, alcoholism and the abuse of her prescribed antipsychotic.
Last year Anna’s sister, Katie Horneshaw told Daily Mail Australia how the family had long advocated for her care before she committed murder.
‘Anna was living in chaos; her mental illness had robbed her of the ability to do the simplest of things, like shopping for food or filling a prescription,’ she said.
‘She should have been in care, and my family had been trying everything to achieve this.
‘Zvonimir Petrovski, the elderly custodian of the messy house where Anna had been staying, had done nothing to provoke his fate.
‘Instead, his protectiveness toward my sister had provided my family with a glimmer of relief at a time when her life was falling apart.
‘And so, as the shock began to subside and the horror of what had happened took root inside my mind, I kept coming back to the same thoughts.
‘He didn’t deserve this. And it could have been prevented.’
Anna Horneshaw, 29, was found guilty of murdering her 67-year-old roommate Zvonimir Petrovski (pictured) at their Melbourne unit
In a moving first-person piece to promote her new book Gorgeous Girl, Ms Pershall also revealed how they had ‘watched with amazement’ at Anna’s positive progress in prison