'Women are dying every day': Family's plea after Ipswich man sentenced for murdering Courtney Mitchell

Why it matters: Courtney's parents have pledged that their daughter "won't just be remembered as the young woman who got murdered" but for sparking change in how domestic violence warnings are handled.

The big picture: Logan Burnett, 27, was sentenced to life imprisonment at Ipswich Crown Court on Monday, 17 February, for what the judge called "a personal execution" of the 26-year-old mother of three.

Behind the tragedy:

• Courtney had reported physical and verbal abuse, including death threats, before the murder
• On the day of her death, Burnett tried to contact her 22 times in just five hours
• She was walking with friends when they spotted him on Stoke Bridge
• Despite the group running to escape, Burnett caught them on Burrell Road where he fatally stabbed her
• After the attack, CCTV showed Burnett crossed the river to avoid detection
• He was arrested at a house in north-east Ipswich the following morning, 7 August
• Members of the public and emergency services tried to save her life, but she died in hospital

In their words: "Although everything was ripped away from Courtney before she was murdered, she left behind three beautiful children. We are just so grateful that she decided to have children, if not we would have been left with nothing but fading memories. Looking into their eyes every day is a constant reminder that she is loved and had lived," Courtney's family said.

What's next: Her family has vowed to:

• Keep her memory alive through her three children
• Raise awareness about domestic violence
• Campaign for public services to respond more effectively to calls for help
• Fight against violent relationships and knife crime

The bottom line: "We as a family are now serving our own life sentence without her," Courtney's parents said. "She had so much more life to live and so many plans for the future, which we believe she would have achieved."