SA man pleads guilty to murdering his 20-year-old daughter
Petrit Lekaj is the father of Sabrina Lekaj, whose body was found inside a car in Adelaide. Photo: ABC
A Kidman Park man has pleaded guilty to murdering his daughter after she was found dead in a car just metres from their family home last month.
Petrit Lekaj, 49, appeared in the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court via video link from a mental health facility on Monday morning.
His daughter, 20-year-old Sabrina Lekaj, was found dead in a car about 250 metres from her family home in Kidman Park, in Adelaide’s west, alongside her injured father.
Police had been searching for Sabrina and her father after loved ones raised concerns about their welfare.
Lekaj was not due to face court again until January, but on Monday instructed his lawyer Ben Sale that he wanted to plead guilty.
He previously appeared in court via a video link from hospital on July 26 charged with his daughter’s murder.
He was being treated for a serious abdominal injury in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Sabrina Lekaj was found dead in a car at Kidman Park on July 21. Photo: Facebook
Sabrina’s funeral was held earlier this month in Flinders Park.
Lekaj will appear in court again in November.
At the funeral, her mother Romina Lekaj said it had been a privilege to have Sabrina as her daughter.
“I hope that we all remember good memories and good times we had with Sabrina,” she said.
“Today is a chance to say goodbye to her, but it will never be goodbye – until we meet again my darling daughter, I’ll always carry you in my heart.”
Sabrina had been studying to be a radiologist at the University of South Australia and previously attended Nazareth College.
‘She was an incredible pianist’
One of Ms Lekaj’s friends, Jana Fandi, told ABC News last month the death had shocked her friends and former Nazareth College schoolmates.
“Throughout high school, we were very close, and we did a lot of things together,” she said.
“We both loved music and she was an incredible pianist and we did competitions together, along with other students from the school — that would have to be the highlight of my school years.
“Sabrina was an incredible person — she was sweet, she was funny.
Sabrina Lekaj (left) and Jana Fandi (right) during their years together at high school. Photo: Facebook
“No matter how sad she was, she always made sure others around her were OK.
“She was always there for anyone who was around her. She always put others before her.”
She said Ms Lekaj was very ambitious with her studies.
“She loved science, so she was doing medical imaging. She loved helping people, so her choice of course stems from that,” she said.
“She used to tell me that she wanted to find a cure for all the diseases in the world. She was very ambitious.
She was very, very smart – she was a high achiever.
“I was always so proud of her because her talent was incredible, but she would always say ‘no, I can do better, I’ll do better’.”
