A mother accused of the “disturbing” hit-and-run murder of her partner’s ex-girlfriend outside a Logan daycare has been granted bail.
Kiesha Thompson was walking home along the footpath after dropping her young daughter off at daycare in Daisy Hill, south of Brisbane, when she was hit by a Toyota Prado 4WD allegedly with fake plates in July.
The young mother, 23 years old, died in the hospital that same night.
Police allege it was deliberate.
The alleged driver was Larissa Rita Mae-Leigh Sant, 24 years old.
Sant and his partner Tyler Scott William James were later charged with murder.
James and Thompson had an intimate relationship in the months before the alleged murder, police said.
Detective Inspector Chris Knight said James was allegedly involved in planning the murder, but Sant was behind the wheel of the car.
Larissa Rita Mae-Leigh Sant, 24 (pictured), accused of the hit-and-run murder of her partner’s ex-girlfriend, has been granted bail.
Sant applied for bail in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday, where prosecutors said he had changed the license plates of the Toyota Prado before the alleged murder.
Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane said Sant found a similar model vehicle on Facebook Marketplace and used its license plates.
He changed license plates a couple of days earlier at a Logan shopping center and changed them again after the alleged murder.
“There is coherence in the modus operandi,” said the prosecutor.
Judge Peter Davis accepted the prosecution’s concession that they would have to prove Sant was the driver and intended to kill the 23-year-old mother.
“The Crown has evidence which, taken on its face, may suggest that there was extensive planning by Ms Sant and the gentleman involved prior to the incident in which Ms Thompson died,” the judge said.
Kiesha Thompson, 23, (pictured) died after being hit by a Toyota Prado all-terrain vehicle in Daisy Hill, south of Brisbane, in July.
Sant and his partner Tyler Scott William James (pictured centre) were later charged with murder following Ms Thompson’s death.
‘There are some disturbing aspects of the case. Apparently the Prado had a false license plate and that after the accident the license plate was changed to the legitimate one.
“There is evidence that undoubtedly links the Prado to the accident.”
Sant’s defense attorney said that the defendant was the mother of three children, all under the age of six, and that she was a low flight risk.
He had no criminal record or passport and had never left the country, the court heard.
“The argument is that it is unrealistic to think that she is going to take three children under the age of six and escape the jurisdiction,” the judge said.
Kiesha Thompson (pictured) was walking home on the trail after dropping her young daughter off at daycare before she was hit by the vehicle.
Sant was supported by her family in court, and the prosecution read letters she had written to them while in custody.
“I can’t be away from them for so long… I need to come home to them,” Sant wrote of her children.
“I don’t want to spend 15 years here… I can’t get over the fact that I could miss out on the children’s lives.”
Sant was granted bail under strict conditions and must wear a GPS tracking device.