Police to accuse ex-partner of helping plan alleged attack on daycare mum

Police will accuse the former partner of a young mother who died after an alleged hit-and-run near a daycare centre south of Brisbane of helping to plan the “targeted” attack.

Kiesha Thompson, 23, had just left the daycare in Daisy Hill on Friday and was walking on the footpath when police say she was deliberately struck by a vehicle.

She was rushed to hospital, where she died from her injuries.

Police allege the vehicle that struck her, a Toyota Prado, was driven by Larissa Rita Mae-Leigh Sant, 24, who was charged with murder. They said Thompson was “targeted”.

On Tuesday morning, police confirmed they had also charged Sant’s present partner, Tyler Scott William James, from Acacia Ridge, with murder.

Detective Inspector Chris Knight told reporters on Tuesday morning that Thompson and James, 27, had been in a relationship, but that had ended months before her death.

James and Thompson had a child together.

“We will be alleging the lady that was charged on Saturday night is a partner of the individual that we charged last night,” Knight said.

Sant was remanded in custody after her case was heard in the Ipswich Magistrates Court on Monday.

James’ case was briefly heard in the Brisbane Magistrates Court, where he did not appear, and his lawyer asked for the case to be adjourned to join with Sant’s, which was moved to the Beenleigh Magistrates Court on July 31.

Magistrate Julian Noud remanded James in custody, and adjourned the case.

Knight said police would allege Sant was the only person in the Toyota at the time, but James was involved.

“We will be alleging that he was a participant in the planning and preparation of that,” Knight said.

The detective was asked whether it was difficult to comprehend the alleged actions of the two accused, and that a child was now without parents.

He said the detectives had spent a lot of time with Thompson’s family.

“They are grieving the loss of their niece, their sister, she was a mother – the impact that it will have on their family is tremendous,” Knight said.

He described Thompson’s death as a “horrendous crime” and said the arrests would do little to minimise her family’s grief.

“They are still without their loved one and nothing we can do or anyone can do can change that and that’s the tragedy in this,” he said.

Thompson’s family issued an emotional message on Monday, saying they were struggling to understand how someone would “commit such a cruel act”.

“In the past couple years she worked tirelessly to create the best life for not only her but her child, who was the absolute light of her life,” Thompson’s brother Koby Torto said.

Police urged anyone with information to come forward.