My 2-Year-Old Daughter Was Murdered by Her Father

[BeckyDem]

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Warrior mom Jacqueline Franchetti is working to change the family court system and protect other children from the same fate

Jun 09, 2021

By Stephanie Thurrott


Jacqueline Franchetti remembers her 2-year-old daughter Kyra’s favorite things. Kyra liked to “go fast” down the slide, and she liked Mickey Mouse, bubbles and independence. “Everything was, ‘I do it, Mama,’” Franchetti says.

Franchetti doesn’t know what Kyra would like today. That’s because in 2016 Kyra was murdered by her father who shot her in the back twice, then doused his home in gasoline and set it on fire, killing himself in a murder-suicide.



Kyra would have turned 7 this year. “I miss her every single second of every day,” Franchetti says. “When I go to visit her grave, I don’t even know what to bring or leave behind. What do 7-year-old girls like?”

No Escape from Abuse

Franchetti did everything legally possible to keep Kyra safe from the day she was born. Franchetti had left the relationship with Kyra’s abusive father, but she allowed him to visit her and Kyra in the hospital. He was angry, and Jaqueline was so fearful for Kyra’s safety that she got out of bed with Kyra in her arms, even though she was recovering from a C-section.

Franchetti was served with papers when Kyra was a few weeks old, and her case continued in family court until Kyra was murdered. “The first time I entered Nassau County Family Court, I thought Kyra would be protected. I quickly learned our courts do not protect the children; they protect the abuser. Kyra’s entire life, we were in family court,” she says. “When you end up in family court, the abuse doesn’t stop.”

https://www.domesticshelters.org/articles/true-survivor-stories/my-2-year-old-daughter-was-murdered-by-her-father