Aaliyah’s Courage

Aaliyah, born in 2013, was the only one in the household who dared to challenge Rowan. A school friend’s mother, Varvara Meli, later described one incident that became a turning point.

When Rowan came to collect Aaliyah from school, the little girl became upset and asked to use a phone to call her mom.

“She had opened up to my girls during the day that she wasn’t looking forward to the afternoon,” Varvara said. “I didn’t ask, I just gave her the phone.”

On the call, Aaliyah reassured Hannah she was okay.

But Hannah later admitted to a witness that Rowan was “horrible” to their daughter because she “stood up to him.”

With that, Hannah finally left Rowan. She and the children moved in with her parents, and she secured a protective order while staying in contact with police about his threats. Rowan, however, refused to give up control.

The day of the attack

On February 19, 2020, Hannah began the morning with coffee and conversation with her mother, while her daughters played and her son watched TV. After her mom left for work, Hannah loaded the children into the car.

That’s when Rowan ambushed her, climbing into the passenger seat with a petrol can.

She screamed at him to get out, but he doused her in fuel. Terrified, Hannah pulled the car over near a neighbor who was washing his vehicle. “Call the police, he’s going to kill me. He’s poured petrol on me,” she cried out.

Within seconds, the car exploded into flames. The neighbor tried to help, burning his face in the attempt. Hannah, engulfed in fire, managed to escape the vehicle —but her three children were trapped inside.

Witnesses desperately called emergency services as Rowan also got out of the burning car. Hannah, in unimaginable pain, told those around her exactly what had happened and begged them to save her children. No one could reach them.

Rowan then pulled out a knife and stabbed himself.

Even while suffering burns across her body, Hannah’s concern never shifted away from her kids. “I hope he survives and rots in jail for the rest of his life,” she told a paramedic who was treating her. Moments later, she was pleading, “My babies are in the car, my children are in the car. Why didn’t I just stay in the car with them?”