Parents of murdered girl tell of pain

The mother of murdered Queensland schoolgirl Trinity Bates says she wakes up every
day hoping to find her daughter's loss was a bad dream.
Trinity's body was found in a drain just 50 metres from her Bundaberg home on
February 22 after her parents woke up to find her missing from her bed.
Amanda Clarke and her partner Damian Bates have spoken to New Idea in their first
media interview since their eight-year-old daughter's death.
"I see Trinity standing there, smiling with those beautiful brown eyes staring down
at me," Ms Clarke told New Idea magazine.
"The pain comes and it seems to latch onto my heart and won't let go. I still can't
cope with knowing she's been taken from us."
She says the thought that Trinity would never open another Christmas present makes
it hard for her to get out of bed.
But what keeps her going is her other daughter, Mylee.
"We suffer every day, and if it weren't for our little Mylee, I honestly can't think
where I would be," she said.
"Mylee is the reason we keep going, she gives us real purpose... We want her to
never forget her special big sister."
Mr Bates talked about the awful discovery of finding Trinity's bed empty that day.
He said he does question himself whether he did enough to protect her.
"I have gone over and over in my head whether I protected her enough. That's what
any parent would do in my shoes," he said.
"Did I do enough? Was I there for her when she most needed me?"
Allyn John Slater, 19, was charged with Trinity's murder two days after her body was
found.
He is known to the family and the case is before the courts.