EXCLUSIVE
The grieving family of a mother who died after trying to stop a wild street brawl have barely left their home since her alleged murder, as she is remembered as ‘the life of the party’.
Kristie McBride, 39, was stabbed in the head and torso on November 22 last year 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.
She died in Wollongong Hospital 10 days after the alleged attack.
A 15-year-old girl was initially charged with murder in the death of Mrs McBride.
A total of six teenage girls, aged 13 to 17, were charged in connection with the brawl, three of whom were also recently charged with murder.
The victim’s sister, Carly McBride, who was also charged for her alleged role in the brawl, said the family is still struggling to process what happened nearly nine months later.
“None of us have left the house since it happened. I can’t even get my children out of their rooms,” Ms 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 brawl, said the family is still struggling to process what has happened over the past nine months.
Mrs McBride, 37, said her sister’s death was the latest in a long list of tragedies to hit their family.
Her brother Kyle was hit by a car in 2001 and her mother died of lung disease on Christmas Day 2022. Both events brought the two sisters closer together.
“We did everything together,” Mrs. McBride said.
“We were very close with it.”
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.
Her aunt has a GoFundMe Page to raise money for her future.
“She’s not sleeping, she’s not eating. She’s going through a really tough time,” Ms. McBride added.
A total of teenage girls aged 13 to 17 have been charged in connection with the brawl, with three of those girls recently charged with murder.
The grieving sister also said the family was ostracized by the community in the months following the tragedy.
“Nobody really bothers us. Friends are pretty much gone,” she added.
‘We held on to ourselves. The only thing I can attribute it to is that it happened when my brother died.
“People don’t want to be sad. They don’t know how to talk to someone. What do you say? They avoid it instead.”
Mrs McBride has now moved to the same street as her orphaned cousins in Warilla, a suburb of Shellharbour.
She said her sister was a “wonderful person.”
“She was so cheerful and energetic, the life of the party,” said Mrs. McBride.
The grieving sister said the family had been ostracized by the community in the months following 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 wonderful mother who did everything for those children.”
Ms McBride will appear in court in October after being charged with affray and intent to commit an offence.
She had previously pleaded guilty to both charges.
The events of November 22 last year still haunt Mrs McBride and her family members.
The confrontation was sparked by an alleged incident of cyberbullying involving one of Ms McBride’s young relatives, and a fight allegedly organised on social media the night before between two groups of teenage girls.
A gang of four teenage girls reportedly arrived armed with knives and threatened to stab one of Ms McBride’s young relatives.
The brawl allegedly pitted the group of four teenage girls, now accused of murder, against another group, including two 17-year-old girls who are also appearing in court.
“They all had knives and said they were going to stab her in the throat,” a family member told Daily Mail Australia at the time.
‘(Mrs. McBride) then ran outside and they (allegedly) stabbed her in the driveway.
Mrs McBride described her older sister (pictured) as a ‘wonderful person’.
“They were there for five seconds and (allegedly) stabbed her and then ran off down the road.”
When Carly McBride was alerted to the threats in the group text, she asked her sister to come over “so she would feel safer,” court documents said.
The facts show that after the four teenage girls arrived with other youths, Carly McBride was armed with a metal baseball bat, while a teenager in a house in Warrawong was armed with a piece of wood.
The ensuing brawl was filmed on two mobile phones.
One of the teens was allegedly beaten with a baseball bat by Carly McBride, before Kristie McBride approached another girl.
The facts show that the 15-year-old girl “struck Kristie McBride in the head, causing a 6cm wound to the left parietal skull and a 2cm wound 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 abdomen.
The agreed facts were stated as she walked away from the scene of the fight. She said, “That little prick stabbed me.”
Last month, a magistrate sentencing one of those involved in the brawl said Ms McBride’s death had had a “profound impact on all involved”.
“It is a terribly tragic incident and everyone involved is responsible for what happened,” the magistrate said.
