A trial has revealed why a teenage girl involved in a horrific burglary during which a mother-of-two was stabbed in front of her husband was cleared of her murder.

Emma Lovell died when two teenagers broke into her home in North Lakes, north of Brisbane, in the early hours of December 26, 2022.

The cameras captured both teenagers arguing with Mrs Lovell and her husband Lee – the fight spilled into the driveway of the family home before one of the teenagers, 17, stabbed her in the chest.

Mr Lovell was also hit and stabbed by the same child. Both boys then ran off as Mrs Lovell died from her injuries.

The 17-year-old who fatally wounded Ms Lovell pleaded guilty to her murder and was jailed for 14 years earlier this year.

But his 17-year-old co-accused was found not guilty of murder, an alternative charge of manslaughter and a charge of malicious mischief, following a judges-only trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane in late October.

Instead, he was found guilty of robbery in company and assault causing bodily harm in company.

In his 19-page ruling, Supreme Court Justice Michael Copley said he could not be satisfied the second teenager was a party to the murder because he did not know his co-defendant had come to the home packing the deadly weapon.

Emma Lovell died after being stabbed by a teenager during a North Lakes home invasion on Boxing Day 2022

A grieving Lee Lovell spoke to reporters after a judge found the second teenager involved in the burglary not guilty of murdering his wife. Image: NewsWire

CCTV view not enough to establish charge: judge

The teenager pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, housebreaking, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and malicious mischief at the start of his trial.

The Crown did not allege that he caused Ms Lovell’s fatal injury, but that he was a party to the offense and formed a “common intention” with his co-defendant to pursue an unlawful purpose – namely, to “steal property from inside the home…while armed with a knife’.

Prosecutors argued that the murder was a likely consequence of this.

They relied on CCTV which captured the teenager moments before he entered the Lovells’ home, turning his head towards his co-accused, who was then armed with the 115cm knife he later used to stab her kill Mrs. Lovell.

The Crown argued that this was when the second teenager allegedly saw the knife.

But the teenager’s defense barrister, Laura Reece, said this could not be proven on the basis of the vision.

CCTV captured the Lovells arguing with the teenage intruders when they broke into their unlocked home north of Brisbane in the early hours of December 26, 2022.

In his sentencing, Judge Copley said the infrared camera at the Lovells’ home in North Lakes caught the main offender gently opening the door and then closing it before giving the other teenager a thumbs up.

The main offender then disappeared from the main image, turning behind the teenager and removing the knife from his bag.

“While the accused was still within range of the camera, but in the house, I saw him turn to the left,” Judge Copley said.

“His right hand pulled out a cell phone from his right side and that hand moved up, closer to where his face appeared to be.

“When this happened … (the main offender) still had the knife in the air in his hand.”

Judge Copley said he could not see the teenager looking at the knife his co-defendant was holding.

“From what we could determine, from what we perceived to be the accused’s left ear, the accused’s face remained facing down towards his phone before returning to the way he had been facing to go further into house,” he said.

The tragic death of mother-of-two Emma Lovell in her own home has shocked the North Lakes community. Pictured are tributes at the scene

“A reasonable possibility remains open on the evidence that the accused did not see or know of the knife.”

Judge Copley went on to say there was nothing to suggest the teenager had activated a flashlight on his phone.

He said he could not be satisfied that any light would have been sufficient to enable the teenager to see the knife and therefore would not have known his co-defendant was armed.

Judge Copley entered verdicts of not guilty on the murder and alternative charges of manslaughter and not guilty on the malicious act with intent charge.

The teenager will be sentenced in December.

Outside court, Mr Lovell said he did not feel he had received “one bit” of justice for his murdered wife, saying he and his family had been jailed for life over Ms Lovell’s murder.

Teen’s shock rap sheet before mother’s murder

Before killing Ms Lovell, the teenager who fatally wounded her had amassed an astonishing 84 convictions since he was 15.

His arrest for murdering Mrs Lovell was his first time in custody.

The teenager, who turned 19 while in custody awaiting sentence for Ms Lovell’s murder, had previous convictions for burglaries or attempted burglaries of homes or cars.

Sixteen of those involved trespassing or attempted trespassing – two of which involved homes with families still inside.

In his statements released in May, Judge Tom Sullivan said the child was confronted by an owner and ran away on one occasion.

Eleven offenses were for unlawful entry or use of vehicles.

The teenager who fatally wounded Ms Lovell (left) has been jailed for 14 years after pleading guilty to her murder.

The teenager was never placed in custody, instead receiving probation orders that lasted between three and nine months.

Judge Sullivan said those probationary periods involved weekly meetings with a youth justice worker lasting between 45 minutes and an hour.

The teenager took part in module-based learning programs to change his behavior with a view to reducing “future offending”.

He was on one of these probation orders at the time he killed Mrs Lovell.

During his sentencing, Judge Copley found the attack on the Lovells to be a “particularly heinous” offence, allowing him to jail the teenager for more than the 10 years in prison that can be imposed under the Act on youth justice in Queensland.

Prosecutors had previously pushed for it under the circumstances the teenager was on probation and arrived at the Lovells’ home armed with the knife.

With time already served, the teenager will have to serve nine years and 292 days in custody, or 70 percent of the sentence.