A woman who was three years old when her mother was killed by her partner is speaking out about the damage caused by domestic abuse. Keeley McKee only learned the full details of her mum Leanne's murder when she turned 18. She is now channelling her pain into highlighting domestic abuse and the lasting impact it can have on those left behind, determined to turn her own experiences into something positive.
"I'm not being a victim of this story. I am going to do something about it," she said. Leanne McKee was killed by her partner in March 2003, weeks before the couple were due to marry.
He then took his own life. Keeley was staying with her grandmother that night and expected her mother to collect her the following day. Her family protected her from the full circumstances of her mother's death as she grew up.
She said when she found out, it contributed to her spiralling out of control and abusing drugs and alcohol. Warning: This story contains distressing details As a young child, Keeley remembers her mother telling her to hide in a bedroom and not come out until she was called. "There was someone trying to get in, and I believe it was that partner that she was frightened of," Keeley told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.
At 18, she found a news report online about her mother's death and confronted what had happened. "I had an idea but I think I was in denial. I didn't want to believe it and I didn't want to face it.
I had googled it and saw a news article… I read it in the most brutal way you could probably read something like that. "I think from that time then, I just ran away from grieving." Keeley said she felt angry and confused, struggling to process the trauma. She said her mental health deteriorated, she withdrew from friends and family, experienced suicidal thoughts and attempted to take her own life on multiple occasions.
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