Overview
- Adam Winmar was sentenced to three months in prison, followed by a 12‑month community corrections order requiring 200 hours of community work and residential drug and alcohol treatment.
- Kiara Ferguson, 27 and six months pregnant, died in their Shepparton home on 1 April 2023 after the homemade 12‑gauge spring pipe gun was dropped in the bathroom and fired a single fatal shot.
- The court heard the firearm had been kept loaded in a crevice of the lounge‑room couch where the couple’s children could reach it, which the judge said endangered their lives.
- Prosecutors abandoned a negligent manslaughter charge before trial, and Winmar pleaded guilty to reckless conduct endangering life and possessing a firearm as a prohibited person.
- Prosecutor Jim Shaw said Winmar admitted daily methamphetamine use and frequent GHB use and had offended again after the death, including assault, choking and an affray while armed with a meat cleaver.