Nicholas Cross labelled remorseless after showground killing of Maddison Parrott

“My life fell apart the day Maddison went away.”

Family friend Melissa Evans said when she heard about a tent fire at the Geelong showgrounds in December 2018, never did she imagine it’d involve someone she knew.

Maddison Parrott’s body was found in a burnt-out tent.

Evans said Cross has taken advantage of a lost girl who was at her most vulnerable and hoped one day he would find it in himself to take accountability for the pain and suffering he had caused so many people.

“Sadly, there is a small community of us, bound together by your selfish actions. Dragged into a world that’s very unsavoury and very unfamiliar to us all,” Evans said.

Cross had only been out of jail for six weeks when he killed Parrott, 29, after arriving at the Geelong showgrounds with a friend in a grey Suzuki Swift, armed with a cut-down firearm.

The court previously heard Parrott had been staying at the camping grounds with a friend when an argument involving Cross took place in the morning on December 3, 2018, and she was shot in the head.

About 1.30am the following day fellow campers reported a tent on fire, where firefighters discovered a body inside.

Following a homicide investigation, Cross was arrested days later in New South Wales.

No clear motive has been established.

Crown prosecutor David Glynn said Cross – who maintains he is innocent – had shown no remorse for his actions against an “utterly defenceless” and unsuspecting victim.

Cross’ prospects of rehabilitation were poor, he said, noting his longtime drug use and final act of insult towards his victim – causing her body to be set on fire.

Glynn said at the time of the incident Cross was also known to carry a loaded gun.

“He was living his life in a situation where he was just a hair’s breadth away from deciding to shoot someone. Then he did,” Glynn said.

“To take someone’s life for no reason is indicative of a person who is an ongoing threat to a community. The need for community protection here is high.”

At home in Geelong, Maddison’s family is still grappling with the devastating consequences of losing a loved one to murder.

Father Dale Parrott said he was left with only a photograph of his daughter to kiss every day.

Cousin Jodie Percy said her family’s life now resembled a horror film.

“Life was better with Maddy, but now our family knows true horror and sadness,” Percy said.

Cross will be sentenced at a later date.

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