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Three-Month Jail Term After Homemade Gun Misfires and Kills Pregnant Partner

Key facts: Adam Winmar, 30, was sentenced to three months' jail after a homemade 12-gauge spring-pipe firearm he kept at home misfired and killed his pregnant partner, 27-year-old Kiara Ferguson, on April 1, 2023, in Shepparton, Victoria. The couple's 4-year-old found the gun in the couch; it discharged beneath Ferguson's eye after she placed it on the bathroom floor. Winmar pleaded guilty to reckless conduct endangering life and possessing a firearm as a prohibited person and will also complete 200 hours of community service and undergo drug and alcohol treatment. Ferguson's family condemned the sentence as insufficient and described her death as preventable domestic violence.

03:28 AM, 11/29/2025Society
Three-Month Jail Term After Homemade Gun Misfires and Kills Pregnant Partner

A 30-year-old man has been sentenced to three months in prison after a homemade firearm misfired and killed his pregnant partner at their home in Shepparton, Victoria.

Adam Winmar pleaded guilty to reckless conduct endangering life and to possessing a firearm while a prohibited person. The sentence, handed down on Nov. 28, also requires him to complete 200 hours of community service and to undergo drug and alcohol treatment on release.

The victim, 27-year-old Kiara Ferguson, was about six months pregnant when the incident occurred on April 1, 2023. Prosecutors say the couple's 4-year-old daughter found a concealed 12-gauge spring-pipe device in the couch. After confronting Winmar, Ferguson placed the improvised firearm on the tiled bathroom floor; it discharged a single shot beneath her eye.

Victoria Supreme Court Justice Michael Croucher described the outcome as "a stroke of terrible misfortune." Despite Winmar's attempts to call emergency services and perform CPR, Ferguson died at the scene.

Court material indicated Winmar had previously tried to fire the homemade weapon and failed. The judge criticised the way the firearm was stored, calling it "a profoundly stupid thing to do," and warned that any loaded gun is potentially lethal—especially where young children could access it.

Prosecutor Jim Shaw told the court that Winmar was a frequent user of methamphetamine and GHB and had a lengthy criminal history. After Ferguson's death, Winmar committed further offences, including assault and choking, for which he served four months in custody earlier this year.

Justice Croucher said he was satisfied Winmar was unlikely to ever again keep a loaded gun on the premises and noted the defendant's apparent "extreme guilt and devastation" over losing his partner and being separated from his children, describing those feelings as additional punishment.

Ferguson's family said they were "utterly devastated" and criticised the sentence as too lenient. "The minimal punishment handed down does not reflect the seriousness of the crime or the magnitude of the life that was taken," they said, calling Kiara's death "an act of domestic violence — an act that was preventable, and final."

The case underlines risks posed by improvised firearms, the consequences of unsafe storage, and broader issues around substance abuse and family violence. Winmar's full penalty comprises three months' imprisonment, 200 hours of community service, and mandatory drug and alcohol treatment following release.

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