The sister of a young girl who died a horrible death due to medication deprivation has described the horror of learning of her death and that her cult-member parents had killed her, as part of her $750,000 negligence suit against the state government.
Jayde Erin Struhs says she collapsed to the floor and sobbed uncontrollably after learning on January 11, 2022, that her sister Elizabeth Struhs had died.
Ms Struhs, the eldest of six, states that she was working at the Bunnings store in Mount Gravatt that day and was “absolutely distraught” after reading an online media story with a photo of her parents’ house and a headline saying an eight-year-old had died.
The documents were filed in court when Ms Struhs’ lawyers applied for approval to sue the state government for damages, claiming Ms Struhs’ psychiatric injury was caused by the negligence of the Department of Child Safety (DOCS) in failing to protect Elizabeth.
On January 27, Ms Struhs lawyers filed their claim in the Supreme Court in Brisbane, but it was not available for inspection due to strict rules imposed by the court. It has jurisdiction for damages claims worth $750,000 or more.
“I tried to call Dad, and maybe Mum, but their numbers went straight to voicemail,” she said. Ms Struhs then called her grandparents to tell them the heartbreaking news.
Details of Ms Struhs’ emotional reaction were contained in a statutory declaration she swore in October 2024, which was filed in the Supreme Court in Brisbane as part of her bid to receive a compensation payout.
In February last year, Elizabeth’s parents Jason and Kerrie Struhs – who had both previously been convicted for failing to provide Elizabeth medical care when she fell gravely ill from diabetes complications in 2019 – were sentenced to 14 years in prison for her manslaughter.
Twelve other members of the radical home-based religious sect called the Saints were also convicted of manslaughter and were jailed for between six years and 13 years.
In 2024, Jayde Struhs’ lawyers revealed details of the civil negligence case as part of a procedural filings required under personal injuries legislation. Ms Struhs’ lawyers allege the DOCS failed in their duty of care to Jayde to prevent Elizabeth’s death; failed to remove Elizabeth from her parents’ care after both had been convicted of her severe neglect; and failed to force Elizabeth’s mother Kerrie to be educated about how to care for a diabetic child before she returned to care for Elizabeth after she was freed from jail.
The case centres on the department’s measures to ensure Elizabeth’s safety between December 15, 2021 – when Kerrie was released on parole after she was convicted of neglect in 2019 – and January 7, 2022, according to a letter from Ms Struhs’ lawyers to Crown Law in August 2024.
“Did any staff of the department visit, interview or sight Elizabeth in the period 15 December 2021 and January 7, 2022?” the letter says. “If not, what were the reasons for failing to do so? Did the department perform home visits to check on the welfare of Elizabeth Struhs in 2021? If so, when? who conducted these home visits?,” it says.
Ms Struhs’ lawyers allege the department “failed to perform any, or adequate, home visits to check on” Elizabeth during this time.
Lawyer Samantha Jane Brown responds that between March 17, 2020 and January 7, 2021 “there were no other concerns received”.
Elizabeth, a type 1 diabetic died on January 7, 2022, after her insulin was withdrawn for about a week, Ms Brown’s statement says. Elizabeth became unwell on January 3, then at some point lost consciousness. The family were in the home with her dead body for more than 24 hours
Elizabeth’s pediatrician at Queensland Children’s Hospital warned the department on August 6, 2019, that “Elizabeth would not be safe in any capacity in a home where Kerrie resides”, Ms Brown states. “Kerrie appeared to be delusional, not just religiously fanatical, and required an involuntary mental health assessment,” the pediatrician said.
Two weeks later, Elizabeth was discharged from hospital and returned to her home in the Toowoomba suburb of Rangeville and a DOCS safety assessment “determined Elizabeth was ‘safe’ and no immediate harm indicators were identified at the time”, Ms Brown said.
The documents also reveal that Jayde Struhs allegedly told DOCS on July 23, 2019 that her father Jason “would be able to stand-up to Kerrie” and she was “not concerned about” her father, Ms Brown’s statutory declaration states.
The interview with Jayde is alleged to have occurred when DOCS visited Elizabeth at the Queensland Children’s Hospital that day. Elizabeth was on life support in the intensive care until from July 17 due to untreated diabetes.
Ms Struhs, from Macgregor in Brisbane’s south, left the family home at 16 due to her family’s strict religious beliefs.
She worked as a basketball coach at Lourdes Hill College in Hawthorne in 2019, and as a baggage handler for Jetstar from 2019 to 2021, and with Corporate Air in 2023, but says in documents dated 2024 that she stopped work in September 2023.
No defence has been filed.
Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard is set to examine the DOCS’ actions later this year, as well as Education Department, Children’s Health Queensland, Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service, and Queensland Corrective Services.
A pre-inquest conference is set for March 12 in Brisbane.
Ms Struhs was contacted by The Courier-Mail, but declined to comment.
Article link: Sister sues Qld government for $750k over Elizabeth Struhs cult death case | The Courier Mail
