EXCLUSIVE
The grieving family of a mother who died after trying to stop a wild street fight have barely left their home since her suspected murder as she is remembered as “the life of the party”.
Kristie McBride, 39, was stabbed in the head and torso during an alleged fight between two groups of girls outside her sister’s home in Warrawong, in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, south of Sydney, on November 22 last year.
He died in Wollongong Hospital 10 days after the alleged attack.
A 15-year-old girl was initially charged with murder following Ms McBride’s death.
A total of six teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 were charged in connection with the fight, and additional murder charges were recently filed against three of them.
The victim’s sister, Carly McBride, who was also charged for her alleged role in the fight, said the family is still barely coming to terms with what happened nearly nine months later.
“None of us have left the house since it happened. I can’t even get my kids out of their rooms,” McBride told Daily Mail Australia.
Kristie McBride (pictured), 39, was stabbed in the head and torso during an alleged fight between two groups of girls outside her sister’s home in Warrawong, in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, south of Sydney, on November 22 last year.
The victim’s sister, Carly McBride (pictured, left, with Kristie), who was charged with affray and intent to commit a violent act for her alleged role in the fight, said the family is still struggling to come to terms with what happened nine months ago.
Ms McBride, 37, revealed her sister’s death was the latest in a long line of tragedies to afflict her family.
Her brother Kyle died in 2001 after being hit by a car and her mother died on Christmas Day 2022 from lung disease; both events brought the two sisters closer together.
“We did everything together,” McBride said.
‘We were very close’
Kristie’s eldest daughter is not eligible for compensation from Victim Services NSW because she was 18 at the time of her mother’s death.
Your aunt has created a GoFundMe Page to raise money for their future.
“He’s not sleeping or eating. He’s going through a very difficult time,” McBride added.
A total of girls between the ages of 13 and 17 were charged in connection with the fight, and additional murder charges were recently filed against three of those girls.
The grieving sister also said the family had been shunned by the community in the months since the tragedy.
“Nobody has cared about us. Friends have practically disappeared,” he added.
“We have become locked in ourselves. The only thing I can blame for this is that it happened when my brother also died.
“People don’t want to be sad. They don’t know how to talk to someone. What do you say to them? Instead, they avoid it.”
Ms McBride has since moved to the same street as her orphaned nieces in Warilla, a suburb of Shellharbour.
He said his sister was a “wonderful person.”
“She was so cheerful and energetic – the life of the party,” McBride said.
The grieving sister said the family had been shunned by the community in the months since the tragedy.
“She would do anything for anyone she loved, she would be there. If they needed her, she would be there.
“She was a great mother who did everything for those children.”
Ms McBride is due to appear in court in October after being charged with affray and intent to commit an indictable offence.
He previously pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The events of November 22 last year still haunt Ms McBride and the rest of her family.
The confrontation was sparked by an alleged cyberbullying incident involving one of Ms McBride’s young relatives and a fight between two groups of teenagers allegedly organised on social media the night before.
A gang of four teenage girls allegedly arrived armed with knives and threatened to stab one of Ms McBride’s young relatives.
The fight would see the group of four teenagers now charged with murder take on another group, including two 17-year-old girls who are also currently before the courts.
“They all had knives and said they were going to stab her in the throat,” a relative told Daily Mail Australia at the time.
‘(Ms. McBride) then ran outside and they (allegedly) stabbed her in the driveway.
Ms McBride described her older sister (pictured) as a “wonderful person”.
“They were there for five seconds and (allegedly) stabbed her and ran down the street.”
After learning of the threats in the group chat, Carly McBride asked her sister to come to her house “so she could feel safer,” according to court documents.
The agreed facts state that after the four teenagers arrived with other youths, Carly McBride was found wielding a metal baseball bat, while a teenager at a Warrawong home was armed with a piece of wood.
The ensuing fight was filmed on two mobile phones.
One of the teens was allegedly beaten by Carly McBride with a baseball bat, before Kristie McBride approached another girl.
The facts indicated that the 15-year-old girl allegedly “swung the knife toward Kristie McBride’s head, causing a 6-centimeter laceration to her left parietal scalp and a 2-centimeter laceration to her left forehead.”
The family has since moved from Warrawong (pictured) to Warilla, a suburb of Shellharbour.
Kristie McBride was then allegedly stabbed twice in the stomach.
The agreed facts were established as she began to walk away from the scene of the fight, she said, “That little asshole stabbed me.”
Last month, a magistrate presiding over the sentencing of one of those involved in the altercation said McBride’s death had a “profound effect on all those involved.”
“This is a terribly tragic incident and all those involved bear responsibility for what happened,” the judge added.
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