Outrage as convicted killer Alicia Schiller granted permission to receive IVF treatment while serving 16-year sentence
A convicted killer has been granted permission to leave prison to receive IVF treatment, infuriating the family of her victim.
Alicia Schiller is currently serving a 16-year sentence in Victoria for the stabbing murder of 25-year-old Tyrelle Evertsen in 2014.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Convicted killer allowed to access IVF treatments behind bars.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The pair lived together in the Geelong suburb of Norlane.
Schiller killed the mother-of-three during a drug-fuelled rage after she took $50 from her bedroom.
Evertsen’s partner and four-year-old son were at the home at the time.
Ten years on from the murder Schiller, now aged in her 30s, has been granted permission to leave her prison cell at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre to access IVF treatment.
If the treatment is successful, it is understood the child would be raised inside a special unit at the maximum security prison.
The news has outraged Evertsen’s relatives, who have labelled Schiller as evil.
“She took away a life, does she have the right to a better life?” Yvonne Gentle, the mother of Evertsen’s partner, said.
“I think it’s a selfish act to bring a child up in prison.”
Not-for-profit prisoner advocacy group Justice Action co-ordinator Brett Collins said he was pleased to hear Schiller would be allowed to undergo the treatment.
He said it would have been “a shame” if she was deprived of the opportunity to have a child.
“She’s actually in some ways repaying the community and is going to bring a life back into the community that was taken,” Collins said.
Schiller will cover the cost of the treatment and the required transport.
The decision follows a landmark 2010 ruling in which the Supreme Court allowed an inmate to resume IVF treatment she had already begun before her incarceration.
It was found the IVF treatment was reasonable and “necessary for the preservation of health” under section 47(1)(f) of the Corrections Act.
The opposition is pushing for the decision to be overturned however Corrections Minister Enver Erdogan said it was in the hands of medical professionals.
“The Supreme Court said that access to IVF and fertility treatment was a medically necessary treatment and therefore we are obliged to provide the logistics and transportation in these matters,” he said.
— With Rochelle Brown
Originally published on 7NEWS
