A woman stabbed to death by her own daughter made a desperate call to emergency services the day before the attack.
Joanne Perry, 53, was stabbed repeatedly in the neck by her daughter Carly Pirronelli, 26, in the Melbourne suburb of Lower Plenty at around 6.30pm on March 8.
Victoria Police were called to the Kett St address following reports Pirronelli was trying to set his mother on fire.
When they arrived, officers were challenged by Pirronelli, who was armed with a knife and continued to plunge the blade into her mother’s torso and neck, despite being told to drop the weapon.
Pirronelli, who was out on bail at the time, was shot by police and died at the scene.
Joanne Perry, 53 (pictured), was stabbed repeatedly in the neck by her daughter Carly Pirronelli, 26, in the Melbourne suburb of Lower Plenty at around 6.30pm on March 8.
Mrs Perry (pictured left) was so concerned about her daughter’s mental health (pictured right) that she called emergency services the day before.
On Wednesday, the Victorian Coroner’s Court was told Ms Perry called triple-0 on March 7, concerned about her daughter’s deteriorating mental condition.
Police went to the house, but Pirronelli heard his mother make the call and left before they arrived.
There was no history of family violence between mother and daughter, but Pirronelli had been taken to the hospital on February 20 after suffering auditory and visual hallucinations and displaying “erratic behavior.”
After that incident, she was flagged for violence, self-harm, suicide and mental disorder in a police database. Herald of the sun reported.
Pirronelli also had a troubled past that included home invasion and drug charges.
Just over a year ago, she appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court charged with housebreaking.
She is alleged to have entered a Kingsbury home as a trespasser in the company of one or more people while another person was inside the home on February 21, 2023.
Additionally, it was alleged that Pirronelli entered the Lowell Avenue home with “the intent to assault a person” and was also charged with possession of cannabis.
The home invasion charge was finally dropped last August after prosecutors dropped their case.
Magistrate Belinda Franjic said only the cannabis possession charge would proceed.
The judge said she took into account Pirronelli’s “lack of prior conviction or guilt.”
“The criminal charges, the home invasion charge, have been dismissed after being withdrawn by the prosecution,” he said.
Pirronelli had come to police attention eight times in the two months before his death for driving and suspected criminal offences, not mental health incidents.
He was out on bail at the time of his death and had returned to his mother’s unit on the afternoon of March 8, after which a neighbor reported hearing a “constant stream of screams” after 6 p.m. .
Joanne Perry (left) and her daughter Carly Pirronelli (right) in the Christmas photo.
Photos posted on their social media profiles often showed them smiling, hugging each other.
The court heard another neighbor called the police after hearing a woman shout: “Don’t set me on fire.”
Two officers arrived at the home 13 minutes after the first triple-0 call and climbed the back fences to enter the property.
They called an ambulance after seeing a large pool of blood and then saw Ms Perry face down on the floor as her daughter cut her throat with a knife.
They ordered him to drop the knife and at first he did, but then he picked it up again and continued stabbing his mother.
He was shot several times after failing to comply with orders to drop the knife.
“Less than 60 seconds passed between the officers seeing a large area of blood and the first officer’s firearm being holstered again after being fired eight times,” said lawyer assisting coroner Sam Brown.
The court is investigating what caused the fatal incident, the relevance of Pirronelli’s mental health and the police response.
Before the horrible double tragedy, mother and daughter seemed to have a close and happy relationship.
Photos posted on their social media profiles showed them smiling, hugging.
But in a dark coincidence, they once joked about what their graves would be like.
Carly Pirronelli appears holding a cocktail in a photo posted on her Facebook account.
Pictured is an online exchange between Joanne Perry and her daughter Carly Pirronelli.
Pirronelli tagged his mother in the comments section of a Facebook post that showed a grave with cannabis plants growing in it and the caption “What my grave will look like.”
“Next to your waterfall of bottles (and) guitar brands,” Pironelli wrote with a smiley face emoji.
‘My God, haha,’ her mother responded.
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