‘Rot in hell, cowardly monster’: Grieving dad’s scathing message to his drug addict ex who murdered their daughter, 3, before killing herself in jail
- Tamara Gurney was charged with the murder of her daughter Iyla Lee Katterns
- The three-year-old was found dead in her home in Orange in NSW in August 2019
- Gurney killed herself in Silverwater Women’s Correction Centre last week
- Iyla’s father Nathan Katterns called the 41-year-old mother a ‘cowardly monster’
A father has left a brutal message for his late partner after she died in prison accused of killing their three-year-old daughter.
Tamara Gurney was charged with murder after the body of Iyla Lee Katterns was found in her home in Orange in NSW on August 1 2019.
The 41-year-old was in another room and falling in and out of consciousness after taking drugs at the time of the three-year-old’s death.
Gurney was found dead in her prison cell in Silverwater Women’s Correction Centre on August 9 after taking her own life.
Tamara Gurney was charged with the murder of her daughter Iyla Lee Katterns (pictured together)
Iyla’s father Nathan Katterns had some choice words for his former partner.
‘Rot in hell Tamara Lee Gurney, you cowardly monster,’ he told The Daily Telegraph. ‘You’re not a mum, you’re a monster.’
Mr Katterns won custody of Iyla over Gurney shortly before the little girl passed away after an 18-month legal battle.
He held a beach side vigil on the Gold Coast last weekend on the one-year anniversary of Iyla’s death, with friends and family leaving out toys and surfboards in memory of Iyla.
Iyla’s father Nathan Katterns (pictured together) called Gurney a ‘cowardly monster’ after her death in custody
Mr Katterns said he desperately misses his daughter and would do anything to get her back.
‘I say a prayer for my daughter every day,’ Mr Katterns said. ‘I would give my own life for Iyla to still be alive.’
Gurney’s death in custody will be the subject of a coronial inquest.
A source from Silverwater Women’s Correction Centre said Gurney was not considered an at-risk prisoner before her death.
‘It may have been the anniversary (of her daughter’s death) that was too much,’ the source said.
Mr Katterns said he desperately misses his daughter and has a tattoo of her name on his chest (pictured)