Sister of Lia, Killed on Ayalon, Adopts Her Daughter: “Keep Searching for Her Mother”
“Lia was supposed to celebrate her birthday yesterday, but instead the family got up from shiva, and nothing will bring her back to us,” Tom Nisani, Lia Malka’s cousin, said today (Thursday) in an interview on ynet studio. Lia Malka was killed in a car bombing involving a half-kilogram explosive device in her vehicle on the Ayalon Routes.
“We will do everything so that the truth comes out and all the failings are exposed,” he said after the suspect in the murder was named, her former partner Chen Cohen from Rishon Lezion. “Right now we are taking care of and helping my cousin Danielle, Lia’s older sister, who adopted Lia’s two-year-old daughter. A public struggle and caring for a toddler who will look for her mother’s presence are going to fall on her. Certainly a mother like that, who was devoted and raised her with values.”
He also said the family and friends had launched a fundraising campaign to support the family’s struggle and the care of the two-year-old. According to him, “The family received threats for a long period of time. There were threats to harm the family, family members, and Lia herself. The police knew about it and complaints were filed, but not much was done. The murder did not come out of nowhere. Right now it is under police investigation, so I am prevented from mentioning specific things, but I can say there were clear threats. Not something open to interpretation. The writing was on the wall. Unfortunately, that was not enough for those who needed to stop it, to prevent it in time.”
He added, “Police officials came to the shiva and are currently handling and investigating the case. That is what they told Lia’s parents, my uncles and aunts. But the hard questions are still there. That will not satisfy them. You need to understand that they went to the police, almost all of the family members filed complaints. At best they were given the option to file a complaint, and at worst they had to beg. There is nothing that can fix the terrible impression and the feeling that you receive threats and go to law enforcement and get no response.
“I do not know the suspect, even the immediate family, some of them, did not know him deeply and did not know what he was capable of, but we, the close family, hope the truth will come out in the investigation and in the indictment. That it will be clear how this happened and what happened. Sadly, it will not bring her back. Nothing will bring back Lia, my cousin. It did not just shock the whole country.”
To donate to help with the care of the toddler and the public struggle, click here.
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