Home / Crime and Justice / Heartbroken Mother Recounts Daughter's Tragic Stabbing Death
Heartbroken Mother Recounts Daughter's Tragic Stabbing Death
12 Nov
Summary
- Mother learned of attack from stranger using daughter's phone
- Killer, 16, confessed: "She was too horrible to me"
- Victim's mother calls for lowering domestic abuse age limit
On January 2023, 15-year-old Holly Newton was tragically murdered by her ex-boyfriend, 16-year-old Logan MacPhail, in Hexham, Northumberland. According to Holly's mother, Micala Trussler, the family was driving home when they received a call from a stranger using Holly's phone, who said, "I've got your daughter's phone...she's been stabbed."
Micala and her husband rushed to the scene, but it was too late to save Holly, who had been stabbed 36 times. MacPhail, who was unhappy about their breakup, had followed Holly after she finished school and attacked her. A teenage boy who tried to save Holly was also stabbed.
In the aftermath, Micala has called on the government to lower the age at which children are officially recognized as victims of domestic abuse to include under-16s. She believes Holly's case was a classic case of domestic abuse, but it was not recognized as such due to Holly's young age.
Micala remembers her daughter as an "amazing, bright and bubbly girl" who loved dancing and wanted to become a dance teacher. She hopes Holly will be remembered not for her tragic death, but for the lives she could have saved and the positive impact she could have had.
