Heartbroken parents of a young musician beaten to death say their lives have ‘changed forever’

The devastated parents of a young musician who was beaten to death have recounted how their lives have been forever changed by violent crime.

Gavin O’Connor, 22, died after his head was smashed before being hit by his own car nine years ago.

The young man was a guitarist with a local classic rock group.

His evil killer Conor McClelland, who was 19 at the time of the murder and did not know Gavin, was sentenced to life in prison for the unprovoked attack.

The monster, from County Monaghan, Ireland, ran into Gavin asleep in his car in the early hours of June 4, 2011 in Carrickmacross, a county town. Both men were attending a music festival in the city that night.

He claims he stole the vehicle while Gavin slept unconsciously in the back seat.

McClelland told police that after Gavin woke up he repeatedly hit him in the head with rocks and when his victim went out on the road he drove the car into him.

Incredibly, he admitted that he did it to make his injuries look like they were caused by an accident.

McClelland pleaded not guilty at his trial but was sentenced to life in prison.

He has already been granted neutral visits and will be able to attend his second probation hearing next spring.

Gavin’s heartbroken parents are calling for the 2019 Parole Act to be implemented to stop this.

Mum Helena told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “We feel we are sentenced to life in prison and fear the day Connor McClelland is released.

“Our lives changed forever when Gavin was murdered and the brutality of it will go to the grave with us.”

Dad, Gerry, added: “What happened to Gavin is just unbearable. It was made by someone with no consideration for human life.

“Now he can lay down in a prison and be well fed and be out in no time, it’s just plain wrong. There are bad people in the world, this guy is pure evil. “

And Helena insisted that McClelland “should never be left out” for what he did.

He added: “He didn’t even know Gavin. Nine years later we still don’t know what happened to him.

“Gavin got out of here on Friday night – at first he said he wasn’t going.

“As he was leaving I had a terrible feeling that he wasn’t coming back. I called him and said, “Gav do me a favor and take care of you” and he said, “I’ll do it mom.”

“And so it was until the next morning when his girlfriend called me.

“The doctor said Gavin’s brain should have three or four different compartments, but all he could see was mush.

“He said the only reason his heart was still beating was because he was so young.

“After Gavin died, I remember thinking ‘when did I last tell him I love him?'”

Tragically, the couple also lost their second child Patrick in a car accident just two years later.

However Gavin’s music still lives on thanks to his father Gerry who gave his equipment a new lease on life with a band created in his memory called The Reel Beats.