By Dominique Tassell
Lisa Rose Halcrow has today pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and one count of grievous bodily harm in Warwick Magistrates Court.
Ms Halcrow, 41, was charged last year over the 2018 death of Warwick boy Connor Horan.
Connor died in August 19, 2018 after being taken to hospital with multiple injuries both internal and to his head.
Today, Connor’s grandparents, Russell and Deborah Ballard, testified in court.
Both spoke of not being suspicious at first when they received a call from Ms Halcrow on the day of Connor’s death.
Mrs Ballard told the court that on the day of Connor’s death, she was informed by Ms Halcrow that Connor had fallen down some stairs and initially thought he might have broken something but not sustained any serious injuries due to the height of the stairs.
She recalled arriving at the hospital with her husband and witnessing CPR being administered to Connor.
“It was overwhelming, watching what they were doing to resuscitate him.”
Mr Ballard stated Ms Halcrow was “in the hallway, in the hospital, sitting on the floor, crying” when they arrived, and she screamed that she had “killed him” numerous times.
Mrs Ballard stated Ms Halcrow told her that Connor had been eating breakfast when she had gone to the bathroom and he had fallen down stairs while she was gone. Mrs Ballard believed this explanation at the time.
Mr Ballard recalled comforting Ms Halcrow outside the hospital, where she reportedly stated she was worried about getting into trouble.
He recalled telling her “you have absolutely nothing to worry about, sweetheart. Unless you had f—ing something to do with this”.
Mr Ballard stated the extent of Connor’s injuries led him to believe Ms Halcrow’s explanation may not be truthful and at the time he wanted to say that Connor “f—ing didn’t fall down stairs”.
When at Ms Halcrow’s property after the incident, Mrs Ballard noticed there was no evidence of a fall at the stairs. She also overheard Ms Halcrow tell police she had found Connor at the bottom of the stairs and taken him to hospital, which she knew to be untrue due to the phone calls she received at the time.
“Things were starting to not click for me.”
Mrs Ballard then asked what Connor had eaten for breakfast, and was told he’d had toast.
She couldn’t see a plate, butter knife, or any crumbs and found this odd as Connor was normally a messy eater.
She also questioned why Connor would have eaten breakfast so late in the day.
“I was thinking what was going on here? Things just didn’t add up in my head.”
Mrs Ballard stated “at that moment I didn’t suspect that she had harmed him”.
“At the time I believed it, Lisa and I were good friends, at the time I believed it.
“I trusted Lisa and I loved Lisa. I truly believed in the first few days it was an accident.”
Mr Ballard told the court he had concerns about Ms Halcrow looking after Connor too much.
He described an incident where Ms Horan went to play poker and left Connor with the man she was living with. Ms Halcrow then allegedly called Mrs Ballard while intoxicated and complained that Ms Horan had “dumped” Connor with the man “again”. She stated she was going to go and get him.
Another incident involved Connor sustaining burns while in the care of Ms Halcrow. He spent time in the Burns Unit in Brisbane as a result.
Mr Ballard said Connor had a habit of pulling chords, and Ms Halcrow’s explanation of Connor pulling on the chord of an iron seemed logical to him.
He questioned Ms Halcrow’s story about taking Connor to the chemist to get his burns checked as he believed they would have identified that his burns needed higher care.
After this incident, Mrs Ballard told Ms Halcrow to inform her if anything else happened to Connor. She said Ms Halcrow then became “really upset” and “super paranoid” about any minor injury Connor sustained.
Mrs Ballard said Ms Halcrow would become “very edgy” and paranoid about what people thought any time Connor was injured.
Ms Halcrow reportedly complained at work multiple times about Ms Horan’s parenting, and also raised these concerns to Mrs Ballard in her home.
Mrs Ballard told Ms Halcrow that she wasn’t Connor’s mother.
“She was becoming obsessed with him.”
Mrs Ballard thought Ms Halcrow babysat Connor too regularly and was concerned after Connor’s death when she heard rumours Ms Halcrow had been referring to herself as Connor’s “second mother”.
Ms Halcrow was formally charged and pleaded not guilty to one count each of murder and grievous bodily harm.
She will stand trial at a later date in the Supreme Court in Toowoomba for the murder charge, and in the District Court in Warwick for the grievous bodily harm charge.
She was refused bail and remanded in custody until her trial.
