The devastated family of a teenage girl killed in a horror crash claim they were forced to bury her in secret because trolls threatened to disrupt her funeral.
Heidi Riding, 18, was travelling in the passenger seat of a stolen silver Holden Commodore in the early hours of July 14 when it veered of the road and smashed into trees in the Toowoomba suburb of Newtown Toowoomba, southern Queensland.
She died on impact. The alleged driver, 19-year-old Kyaharlem Hazard, is in police custody charged with manslaughter.
Heidi Riding (pictured), 18, was travelling in the passenger seat of a stolen silver Holden Commodore in the early hours of July 14 when it veered of the road and smashed into trees in the Toowoomba suburb of Newtown Toowoomba, southern Queensland
Ms Riding’s (pictured) family claims they were forced to hold her funeral in secret after receiving threats from vicious trolls
But Ms Riding’s family said they were forced to keep the date and location of her funeral secret after receiving hundreds of vile messages, including threats.
One message branded Heidi a ‘little degenerate filth that did nothing for society other than destroy other people’s property and waste hard working taxpayer’s money’.
They added: ‘The world is a better place without her.’
Her father Shane Riding acknowledged that she was not perfect but pleaded with the trolls to stop.
‘We want to apologise to anyone who has been affected by Heidi’s actions, she wasn’t perfect but we love her to death,’ Mr Riding told the Toowoomba Chronicle.
An example of the vile abuse the family has received in the wake of Heidi’s death
It is the third child the heartbroken father has had to bury.
Heidi was laid to rest on Monday, July 31, a few feet from her baby brother who died at birth, and her 28-year-old brother who died from a medical condition.
‘I go to bed crying and I wake up crying,’ said Mr Riding.
‘The trolls got what they wanted, they just have to look at her gravesite – she’s in the ground dead. We just want it to stop.’
Heidi’s twin sister, Tamika, told their father that she lost half her soul when Heidi was killed and has vowed to never celebrate another birthday.
‘Heidi was one of a kind, she was someone no matter what was happening in her life she would again and again help you first and that’s where a lot of her troubles stemmed from,’ wrote Tamika.
Tamika claimed her twin was ‘failed’ by the justice system and a GoFundMe set up to fight for justice has so far raised almost $2,000.
The alleged driver of the stolen silver Holden Commodore (pictured), 19-year-old Kyaharlem Hazard, is in police custody charged with manslaughter
A flaming engine (pictured) had been propelled 20m across the road in the crash where Ms Riding died
But a rival GoFundMe has been set up by the supposed owner of the stolen Commodore Heidi died in, who claimed all her worldly possessions had been lost.
‘As much as the poor thing who lost her life didn’t deserve that, my life has also been flipped upside down and ruined from criminals who decided that they needed to take my car for a joyride,’ the organiser of the fund wrote.
It has so far raised almost $2,000. Daily Mail Australia has not been able to establish the accuracy of the claims made by the organiser.
Ms Riding’s short life was touched by tragedy.
In addition to the deaths of her two siblings, she lost the ‘love of her life’ in an eerily-similar crash eight months ago.
Her partner Jemmah Lorrain Cole-Crighton, 24, died when an allegedly stolen car she was travelling in ploughed into a tree.
The fiery crash occurred on the Warrego Highway near Helidon in the Lockyer Valley region, just 20km from Toowoomba, on January 13.
Ms Cole-Crighton sustained burns to 95 per cent of her body after the 2009 Toyota Camry she was in hit a tree and burst into flames.
Ms Riding had lost her partner Jemmah Lorrain Cole-Crighton (pictured), 24, in eerily similar circumstances when an allegedly stolen car she was travelling in ploughed into a tree
She was flown to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital but she died a short time later.
Heidi’s father said his family were acutely aware of the crime plaguing the area and called for more to be done to help get children off the streets.
‘Too many kids are dying,’ he said.
‘We need to find a way to get into the heart of these troubled kids before it’s too late.
‘I would tell these kids to just stop – the game is up.
‘Heidi wouldn’t want them out stealing cars, and she wouldn’t want anyone else to die.’