Mum 'vindicated' as man committed to face murder trial
Kirra McLoughlin's mother says she feels vindicated that a man has been committed to stand trial for the alleged murder of her daughter nearly a decade ago.
Ms McLoughlin's former partner Paul Alan McDonald faced committal proceedings in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday after being charged with murder in 2022.
The mother of four had 102 areas of bruising when she died in hospital in 2014 after being found unconscious at the home she shared with McDonald at Wolvi, north of Brisbane.
McDonald was charged about a year after coroner Jane Bentley found the 27-year-old most likely died from a brain injury caused by her partner - an "habitual perpetrator" of domestic abuse - hitting and choking her.
Ms Bentley found Ms McLoughlin was likely unconscious from injuries by 11.30pm on the day before McDonald called for help about 2pm.
Paramedics found Ms McLoughlin unresponsive with a non-survivable brain injury.
She died on July 18, 2014, in Gold Coast University Hospital.
Ms McLoughlin's mother Alison Russell said she was overjoyed at the committal decision after 10 years.
"I'd be happier if I had my daughter back but apart from that I couldn't be happier," she said outside court.
"I had to fight very hard ... and I finally feel vindicated."
McDonald will face a Brisbane Supreme Court trial on a date yet to be decided.
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