A young woman who’s struggled with never knowing her dad leads a successful life working part-time as a greyhound trainer and studying veterinary subjects at university.
Tragically Rickii-Lee Church’s father, Ricky Balcombe, only found out he was going to be a dad two weeks before his public murder.
Victorian teenager Ricky Balcombe was just 16 when he was fatally gunned down by Karl Michael Hague, 44, at Geelong’s Market Square shopping centre in 1995.
A fortnight prior Balcombe was told that he was going to be a parent by the unborn child’s mother, Donna Church, and she told the Herald Sun he was planning on buying accessories for her.
The successful daughter of murdered teenager Ricky Balcombe works part-time as a greyhound trainer and studies veterinary subjects at university (Rickii-Lee pictured)
While they weren’t a couple at the time, Ms Church always knew she would name their baby after the ‘charming and warm’ Balcombe.
And so in 1996 Rickii-Lee Church was born.
It wasn’t until their child was in primary school that Ms Church told her about the notorious crime which saw their name make national news headlines.
Victorian youngster Ricky Balcombe (pictured) was just 16 when he was fatally gunned down by Karl Michael Hague, 44, at Geelong’s Market Square shopping centre in 1995
While they weren’t a couple at the time, Ms Church always knew she would name their baby after the ‘charming and warm’ Balcombe (Rickii-Lee pictured)
‘I always had a folder with photos to show her, and all the clippings. When she got to a certain age she was given the folder to look over,’ Ms Church told the publication.
And while her daughter’s childhood hasn’t been one of loss or tragedy, she still feels the absence of her father at momentous occasions.
‘All the milestones, her deb and her 18th and 21st they’re all hard,’ Ms Church said.
A week-long deliberation ended on Monday when a Supreme Court jury returned a guilty verdict against Karl Michael Hague (pictured) after Balcombe’s case went unsolved for decades
Rickii-Lee, who is now older than her father (pictured) was when he was murdered, has gone on to graduate from North Geelong Secondary College and obtain her VCE certificate
‘Her deb was one of those times, her grandfather was the one who presented her, everyone else had their fathers.’
Rickii-Lee, who is now older than her father was when he was murdered, has gone on to graduate from North Geelong Secondary College and obtain her VCE certificate.
Her passion for animals has also become a main focus for the ‘driven’ young woman.
And while her daughter’s childhood hasn’t been one of loss or tragedy, Rickii-Lee (pictured) still feels the absence of her father at momentous occasions
‘I always had a folder with photos to show her, and all the clippings. When she got to a certain age she was given the folder to look over,’ Ms Church said (Ricky Balcombe pictured)
‘She has grown into a wonderful young woman, very strong… I am very proud,’ Ms Church said of her daughter.
A week-long deliberation ended on Monday when a Supreme Court jury returned a guilty verdict against Karl Michael Hague after Balcombe’s case went unsolved for 23 years.