Christine Mills told police she was scared of her son. Now he's been charged with her murder.

Content warning: this post discusses domestic violence and homicide.

Christine Mills lived a quiet life by the beach, her home nestled within a Coffs Harbour holiday park on the NSW mid north coast. 

But Christine was scared. She told police she feared for her safety, and that the man she feared was her own son, 30-year-old Zachary Mills, who was the subject of an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO).  

In June, police issued an AVO against Mills, barring him from seeing his mother for 12 hours after consuming drugs or alcohol. He was also banned from stalking, harassing, intimidating, assaulting or threatening his mother or damaging her property.

Watch: 6 Signs Of People Who Have Been Abused. Article continues after the video.

On September 30 Mills breached the order. The following day, Christine told police she was scared. Two days later, Mills breached the AVO again, this time, allegedly attacking his mother, leaving her with extensive and life-threatening injuries. 

Christine spent the next five nights fighting for her life. On Monday, she succumbed to her injuries, and died in hospital. 

Police had been called to the Big 4 Park Beach Holiday Park for a welfare check on Christine, where they found her seriously injured. Her son had fled, sparking a days-long manhunt, ultimately leading to his arrest in Queensland on Sunday. 

Mills appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court, where NSW Police successfully applied for an extradition order. On Tuesday, Mills was charged with Domestic Violence murder. 

He was also charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and twice breaching an AVO.

Christine is the 65th woman killed this year according to Sherele Moody's Femicide Watch. She was 58 years old. 

A failing intervention order system.

Like many men who go on to kill, Mills was the subject of an AVO. And like many before him, he too had allegedly breached that order. 

"I struggle with the concept of a minor breach," says leading violence against women scholar, Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon, from Monash University's Faculty of Business and Economics.

"While I understand that we must have a scale of response to different forms of breaches, we also need to appreciate that any and every breach of an intervention order is a red flag that the victim-survivor is at risk of violence escalation and, even death."

Victim-survivors and those working within the system have long since lamented the failure of the intervention order system to enhance safety, Professor Fitz-Gibbon says. 

"It is well and truly time to examine all facets of the intervention order system, including responses to breaches. 

"We need to listen to victim-survivors to understand from their experience how intervention orders have failed to meaningfully enhance their safety."

When it comes to matricide, son-to-mother murders are most common. 

Christine is the sixth woman to be allegedly murdered by their child this year, five of those women were killed by their sons. 

"While there are cases involving a female homicide offender, we're more likely to see son-to-mother perpetrated homicide and these cases often involve histories of domestic and family violence (DFV),"  says Leneen Forde Chair in Child and Family Research, Professor Silke Meyer. 

"I think gender is a key factor in adult children killing a parent, especially their mother."

As well as attitudes to gender and a prior history of intimate partner violence, mental health and physical proximity to mothers are also key contributing factors to matricide, research shows.

"I think part of the reason we often see this violence being directed at mum - similar to what we see in the adolescent use of violence in the home space - is that women may be separated and on their own, making them the primary target for violence. Especially where there has also been a history of intimate partner violence targeted at mum in the past," says Professor Meyer.

If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)—the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.

Feature image: Instagram/@sherelemoodyfemicidewatch.

Mamamia is a charity partner of RizeUp Australia, a national organisation that helps women, children and families move on after the devastation of domestic and family violence. Their mission is to deliver life-changing and practical support to these families when they need it most. If you would like to support their mission you can donate here.