Heroin dealer dad stabs daughter to death for using drugs
A South Australian man brought a kitchen knife into his car, where he stabbed and killed his daughter, during a confrontation over her drug use, a court has heard.
Petrit Lekaj has pleaded guilty to the murder of 20-year-old Sabrina Lekaj in Adelaide's west in July last year.
The Supreme Court heard on Wednesday Sabrina was stabbed eight times after a confrontation over her alleged partying and recreational drug-taking.
Defence counsel Ben Sale said his client got into the vehicle with his daughter to purchase takeaway food and planned to confront her about her behaviour.
"There was a realisation that the daughter, who was the apple of his eye, had been lying to him, living another life with friends that involves the use of drugs," Mr Sale said.
Justice Trish Kelly questioned the irony of that given Lekaj was previously jailed for dealing heroin in 1994, and was convicted and fined for possessing cannabis in 2007, and cultivating cannabis crops in 2009.
Lekaj admitted to taking a 15-centimetre knife from the kitchen before entering the car with the intention of scaring Sabrina when he confronted her.
Mr Sale said Lekaj, who had suffered from some mental health issues, had trouble comprehending his own actions following the murder.
"However furious and enraged the prisoner was, he quickly came to his senses and tried to take his own life with five stab wounds to his chest and slash wounds to his wrist," Mr Sale said.
The court heard Lekaj expected severe punishment and told a psychologist that he "deserved to be in hell" for his crime.
But prosecutor Melissa Wilkinson told the court Lekaj produced the knife from his pants and stabbed Sabrina without first trying to scare her.
"She screams and tries to get out of the vehicle, kicking the window and trying to escape her father," Ms Wilkinson said.
"He responds by physically restraining his daughter, gets out the car and sits behind her, further restraining her and stabbing her seven more times.
"He did not offer to save her or render aid and there was a telephone in the car and a hospital was nearby."
A post-mortem report found Sabrina Lekaj died from a combination of blood loss and strangulation.
Lekaj will be sentenced next week.
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