A former Shepparton man has faced court after his partner died from being accidentally shot at their Shepparton home in April.
Adam Winmar, formerly of Shepparton and now of Melbourne, is charged with possessing a firearm while a prohibited person and theft.
He faced a summary jurisdiction application in the Koori Court section of Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Friday, December 8, to decide whether the matter can remain in the Magistrates’ Court or needs to be heard in the higher County Court.
The court heard Mr Winmar had made a firearm, which was designed to fire shotgun shells, months before his partner Kiara Ferguson’s death, and it was kept in a kitchen drawer or shoulder bag in their McCubbin Dve house.
Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Cole said Mr Winmar told investigators at the time Ms Ferguson had found the gun, approached him while he was on the toilet, threw the gun towards him and said ‘what have I told you about this?’
The gun landed on the floor and discharged, shooting Ms Ferguson, Leading Sen Constable Cole said.
The court heard Mr Winmar made a 000 call at 6.12pm on April 1, saying his partner had accidentally shot herself by dropping a firearm.
When ambulance officers arrived, they found Ms Ferguson with a serious facial injury on the floor at the entrance to the toilet and laundry area of their home, with a homemade gun on the floor near her hip.
Mr Winmar was attempting to do CPR on her.
Mr Winmar admitted to police he had possessed the homemade pipe gun, and said he had it “for protection”, Leading Sen Constable Cole said.
In victim impact statements read to the court, Ms Ferguson’s parents, sister and two brothers told of their anguish at the loss of their daughter and sister.
Ms Ferguson’s parents spoke of their distress at hearing their daughter — a mother of two young girls herself — had died.
“As parents, to have the unthinkable happen is heart-wrenching. You never get over it,” they said in a joint statement.
“Our girl never deserved to have her life taken at 26.
“Her life mattered and was valued by us.
“It was our worst nightmare of burying our child and her to lose the opportunity to raise her own girls.
“The girls will not have their young vibrant mum in their lives.”
Ms Ferguson’s sister said her life had completely changed since that day.
“I cry most days for my sister and I miss her,” she said.
She spoke of a sister that was “funny, silly, hard-working and amazing” and was adored by her family.
One of Ms Ferguson’s brothers said he missed “her laugh, her voice, and just seeing her” and said her death left a hole in their family.
He was upset Ms Ferguson’s two young daughters were left without a mother.
“Seeing her daughters miss their mother, breaks me,” he said.
Another brother described his little sister as his best friend.
“A piece of my heart has been taken away from me,” he said.
“I’m plagued by guilt and self-blame for not being able to help her in her final moments, being her big brother.
“Losing my baby sister has broken me.”
Speaking in court, Mr Winmar described Ms Ferguson as the “love of my life”, and told how they had been together since she was 17 and he was 18.
“Since my partner Kiara passed away I have been in a world of pain that I will not be able to grow old with the love of my life,” he said.
“I’m depressed knowing I will never get to see her or hear her voice.
“I know what’s happened is bad I should never have had the gun. I would give anything for this to be different.”
Mr Winmar’s defence counsel told the court his client had relapsed into regular drug use at the time of the incident, after the deaths of his father in May 2022 and grandmother two months later.
The defence counsel said Mr Winmar was “extremely distressed at the accidental death of his partner” and not being able to attend her funeral or see his children since then.
“This is a dreadful accident,” he said.
“It’s been a devastating consequence of having a weapon in the house.
“His suffering will never end, nor will that of the victim’s family or his family.”
Magistrate Anne Goldsbrough ordered Mr Winmar undergo a Community Corrections assessment and will rule on summary jurisdiction application when he next appears in court in February.