The furious family of a grandmother who was fatally stabbed by a teenage boy have hit back after he appealed his 16-year sentence.

Vyleen White, 70, was killed in front of her granddaughter by the then-16-year-old in a car park at Redbank Plains shopping centre, west of Brisbane, in February 2024.

The teen quickly approached Ms White and demanded she hand over her car keys before inflicting a ‘non survivable’ 17cm deep knife wound.

The crime was the catalyst for the controversial ‘adult crime, adult time’ laws, ensuring juveniles face at least 20 years in custody for murder.

However, the laws were not retroactive, and the teenager was sentenced under the state’s previous laws, receiving a 16-year jail term in November.

He will likely be released from custody in late 2033, when he will be 26, after serving 60 per cent of his sentence including time already served.

The teenager has appealed his sentence, claiming it was excessive for a non-premeditated murder committed in a ‘fleeting moment of madness’.

Ms White’s family were too upset to attend Tuesday’s hearing, but were devastated to learn of the reasons for the appeal.

The teen who stabbed Ipswich grandmother Vyleen White to death has appealed his sentence

Vyleen’s daughter Cindy Micallef (pictured) hopes the sentence won’t be downgraded

Vyleen’s widower Victor (pictured centre) is seen after the sentencing in November 2025

‘I’ve had my own fleeting moments of madness, but I haven’t acted on them,’ daughter Cindy Micallef told 7News.

‘With no intent in the fleeting moment of madness – I’m sorry, but if you had no intent, why were you carrying a knife?

‘There’s no heroism here. You’ve taken a person’s life – what is that life worth?

‘Obviously nothing… If we keep downgrading these sentences for murders, the only ones left with a life sentence are the families.’

Victims 1st ambassador Lyndy Atkinson slammed the appeal as an insult.

‘A precedent needed to be set and this was the right precedent to be set,’ she said.

‘I think it’s an insult to the family and there will be community outrage if the original sentence is not upheld.’

The sentencing judge had made an error, defence barrister Matthew Hynes told the Court of Appeal justices on Tuesday.

Victor White is pictured at his wife’s funeral in February 2024

The teen demanded the grandmother’s car keys before inflicting a ‘non survivable’ 17cm deep knife wound. Pictured are police near the crime scene

‘This is a case where there is a single stab with fleeting attention,’ Mr Hynes said.

The teen is serving the longest sentence in Queensland for a 16-year-old who killed someone with a single stab wound, the justices heard.

Justice David Boddice said a brief moment of intent to kill or cause life-threatening injury that turns fatal was enough for murder.

‘That’s the offence, that’s how you get to murder: one moment,’ he said.

The sentencing heard how the boy had stolen Ms White’s 2009 Hyundai Getz hatchback and drove it to a nearby residential area to show off to other teens.

CCTV footage captured the teen deliberately stabbing the elderly woman as she tried to get away, Director of Public Prosecutions Todd Fuller told the hearing.

‘The sentence falls well short of being described as being manifestly excessive. It was accepted that this murder was particularly heinous,’ Mr Fuller said.

The three justices overseeing the hearing reserved their decision.

SOURCE: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/family-s-fury-as-teenage-killer-who-fatally-stabbed-beloved-grandmother-appeals-his-16-year-sentence/ar-AA1XWhgH