Andrew Carey
THE children of a young Limerick man killed in the US last week in a domestic disturbance are now at the centre of a bitter custody battle between their legal guardians and the chief suspect in Jason Corbett’s killing.
This Friday, a judge will decide the outcome of the custody hearing of Jack and Sarah Corbett who have been living in the home where their father was killed last week.
US national, Molly Martens, Mr Corbett’s second wife, was granted temporary custody of the two young children in the wake of the killing of their father in North Carolina in what was described by police as a “domestic disturbance”.
Local police said that they were not looking outside the family home for anyone else in connection with Mr Corbett’s death.
Jack and Sarah’s legal guardians are his sister Tracey and brother in law David Lynch and the family left in Limerick say they are desperate for news and developments that will see Jason laid to rest and his children back on Irish soil.
Mr Corbett who moved to the US a number of years after the death of his first wife Mags in 2006 from a asthma attack, died as a result of a blunt force trauma to the head at his home in Panther Creek Court, Wallburg in North Carolina last week.
A number of Jason’s family travelled to North Carolina upon hearing the tragic news and have since managed to take custody of Jason’s body after an initial delay over legalities.
Mr Corbett will be laid to rest along with Mags and his body is due home to Ireland this Wednesday after the Kevin Bell foundation intervened to cover the cost of repatriation expenses.
However, the future of Jack and Sarah now hangs in the balance of a courtroom when this Friday the children’s legal guardians attempt to secure a ruling allowing them to return home to Ireland with the Corbett family vowing they will not return to Ireland without the young children.
Campaigns, petitions and fundraising activities have all been initiated in Ireland in support of the young Corbett children with calls being made for Government intervention at the highest level.
