A youth justice advocate has warned against a "knee-jerk reaction" after two teenagers were charged with murdering a mother of two during an alleged home invasion north of Brisbane.
Emma Lovell, 41, was fatally stabbed in the chest on her front porch on Monday night.
Two boys, both aged 17, have also been charged with the attempted murder of Ms Lovell's 43-year-old husband Lee, who was stabbed in the back at their North Lakes home.
Their matters were heard in court on Wednesday, and adjourned until January 16.
Police sources have told the ABC one accused killer was on bail when the couple was allegedly stabbed on Boxing Day.
Travis Zealey, a neighbour of the Lovells and a former police officer, said he felt crime had "clearly increased" in the past 12 months and the killing had left him fearful for his family's safety.
He said action was needed.
"Let's put our heads together. Maybe come and consult with the community rather than sit behind closed doors and make legislation changes, come out into the community and talk to people," he said.
"We need to get to a solution as soon as we can because we're going to see more and more of this happening if we don't get a handle, especially on youth crime.
"And youth crime, let's face it, is out of control."
It comes as the Queensland government announced a raft of more severe criminal penalties in what the premier described as the "most comprehensive response to youth crime in this state".
Hopes 'Emma's Law' will bring 'positive change'
An online petition has been launched for legislative reform, dubbed "Emma's Law".
It would require judges to ban bail for armed home invaders who are repeat offenders, regardless of their age.
Mr Lovell said in a statement that he would like to see "Emma's Law" implemented.
"Although Emma's passing has ripped our family apart I just hope there will be a positive change to come from this," he said.
"I am happy to back 'Emma's Law' which is being promoted online. I urge the politicians who can make changes to do so and not just talk about it to gain votes for the next election, you need to act and follow the talking through.
"Emma's life will best be honoured by a positive change occurring and laws changed."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there should be a response to community sentiment following the incident, but insisted it was not a political issue.
"I'm not about to get into the details of trying to write state laws from the federal government. I think there should obviously be a response to this — there is justifiable community outrage," he told WIN.
"I am sure the Palaszczuk government will respond appropriately.
"I have no intention of making this a political issue. This is a tragedy."
Ben Cannon came to the aid of his neighbour, former Wallaby Toutai Kefu and his family, when their south Brisbane home was raided in August last year.
He said a broad and "general conversation" needs to be had about violent youth crime.
"The government hides behind the fact that they can't talk about specifics of the cases. Specifics are only important if you've got a handful of these issues, this is a real general problem," he said.
"They say they have the toughest laws in the country, but for me the barometer is not compared on paper, it's compared on outcomes and results.
"The frustration for my community and me is that this is escalating, not decelerating."
Mr Cannon said locking up kids was often not the answer, but neither was sending them back to situations that fostered criminal behaviour.
"Our system doesn't need to get tougher, it needs to get smarter," he said.
State Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has called for tougher laws — including making breach of bail an offence for young offenders.
The Queensland government said more young people were already being held in custody for longer since it brought in new laws, including the presumption against bail, in 2021.
Support needed to get young offenders on 'better path'
Youth Advocacy Centre chief executive Katherine Hayes said calls for tougher laws in the wake of Ms Lovell's death were "understandable" but warned a "knee-jerk" reaction could make matters worse.
"Locking up young people means that we're going to get better criminals in the future," Ms Hayes said.
"It might keep them off the street for a short period of time, but it's creating a problem down the track when they get released, because they will not re-engage productively with society, and they're more likely to cause these kinds of serious incidents."
She said young people and their families needed support to put those at risk of offending on a "better path".
"My fear is that we are going to get more and more young people becoming more criminalised because we're not as a society collectively looking at what works and what doesn't work," she said.
Criminologist Terry Goldsworthy, from Bond University, backed making bail breach an offence for young people but also said there needs to be more support for them.
"The causal factors behind juvenile offenders, they're multi-factorial … until they're addressed, you're going to have these kids who will continue to go on a roundabout of offending," Dr Goldsworthy said.
"You have your law and justice response but at the other side, we're dealing with these core offenders, what are we doing with them long term – have we just written them off to being career criminals?"
Current policies 'having an impact'
Police Minister Mark Ryan said new bail laws were "disrupting offending".
A report released last month found some young people were held for longer since the 2021 law change, and some were left on remand for long periods for "low-level offences", where a detention order was unlikely.
Mr Ryan said this showed they were "having an impact".
"The laws that were passed in recent times were because of community expectation around stronger deterrents and harsher deterrents,' he said.
"The government has been criticised since those changes about more young people being in custody for longer, but it's my firm belief that it helps the community safe."
Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon said the two teenagers who were charged were not "young children but youths in the upper age range".
She said youth crime was "complex and multi-faceted".
"This conversation is important for the community. Youth crime is as complex an issue as some of the things that we see in domestic violence and other wicked problems in the community," Assistant Commissioner Scanlon said.
"And those things are not fixed overnight and they will take considerable effort by all agencies and everyone in the community."
