Relatives of Elizabeth Struhs speak at final day of inquest

The sister of Elizabeth Struhs has told a coronial inquest she hopes her sister's death can provide learnings to save "the next quiet little girl who cannot speak for herself, before it's too late".

The inquiry has been examining whether various government agencies' responses to the eight-year-old's child protection case, before her death in 2022, were adequate.

Elizabeth Struhs had type 1 diabetes, and died in her Toowoomba home after her father, Jason Struhs, stopped providing her with her lifesaving insulin.

He had recently converted to a fringe religious group, The Saints, which his wife was a member of.

The group holds anti-medical intervention views, and pressured Jason Struhs to stop treating his daughter, citing God would save her instead.

The inquest in Brisbane ran for a week and a half and heard from nearly 30 witnesses.

Elizabeth's oldest sibling, Jayde Struhs, was emotional today as she shared several family statements about her "cheeky", "gentle", "clever, kind" little sister to the court.

She told the inquest Elizabeth had "never left my heart" when she chose to leave her family's Toowoomba home, and her mother's religion, at 16 when her sister was just two.

In mid-2019, Elizabeth's father Jason Struhs rushed her to hospital in a coma, against her mother Kerrie Struhs's wishes.

It was before she had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

Kerrie Struhs was later imprisoned for several months for neglect over the incident.

Jayde Struhs said she used the "rare" opportunity to reconnect with her younger sibling during her hospital stay in Brisbane.

"I watched her learn to do her own finger pricks [for her diabetes]. She was proud of it," she said.

Elizabeth's future 'taken from her'

The inquest heard Elizabeth Struhs died at home in the first week of January 2022, with Jayde Struhs learning about it days later when a journalist sent her a text.

"Asking if I knew the Struhs family in Toowoomba … I searched online and found a headline about an eight-year-old girl who was found dead, with a photograph of my parents' home underneath," she said.

"That was how I learned my little sister was gone."

She told the inquest about the heartbreaking experience of having to arrange a funeral for her young sister.

"We had to choose the flowers and the dress that she would wear, and the urn that now sits in my living room where I see it every day," she said.

"Elizabeth should have had everything that lies ahead of an eight-year-old girl, high school, best friends, a first job, falling in love, finding out who she was going to be," she said.

In 2025, Jason and Kerrie Struhs, as well as other members of The Saints, faced a weeks-long murder trial over Elizabeth's preventable death.

They were acquitted and instead found guilty of manslaughter.

Her parents were each sentenced to more than 14 years in prison, with the 11 other sect members sentenced to between six and nine years in prison.

A statement from Elizabeth's aunt and uncle, Melissa and Adam Struhs, was also read to the court today.

"The very first time, and only time, we got to see and hold her was around four months of age, she was so sweet and peaceful that day," the statement said.

"The last time was when we were standing around her coffin and apologising, we couldn't do more to protect her.

"We have had almost five years to sit with that, and it hasn't gotten any easier to acknowledge."

Melissa and Adam Struhs said they grieved never getting to know their niece as she grew older due to the family becoming estranged, but "having Elizabeth in our lives would have been something we would have loved".

Another older sibling of Elizabeth's, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said they often felt guilt about what had happened, knowing how vulnerable she was.

"Guilt that you didn't or couldn't do anything to prevent it," they said.

The statement described hopes of going back to simpler times — watching movies with Elizabeth and watching her laugh so hard she would cry, playing cricket on their driveway or dancing together to Don Spencer songs in the living room.

"I think about what future she would have had," they said.

Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard held back tears as she addressed Jayde Struhs, thanking her for sharing such "private and precious memories", and for keeping Elizabeth "alive in our hearts".

"It is also an opportunity for us all to reflect that Elizabeth was and remains infinitely more than the events that have brought us here over the past two weeks," she said.

The coroner will reserve her decision and will hand down her findings in 2027.