Father’s plea for child custody after daughter killed in US home

The father of the NSW woman allegedly stabbed to death by her husband in their Florida home this year has issued a renewed appeal for the custody of her two young children, a day after a recording of the disturbing 911 call placed by the alleged murderer was published.

Meaghan Bowler, a 33-year-old former tennis coach and photographer from Terrigal, was killed on April 9 in her Sarasota home on Florida’s Gulf Coast, which she shared with husband Jesse Nicholas Jones, 39, and their young boys, aged two and nine months at the time of her death.

Bowler was educated at Pymble Ladies’ College and worked at the Sydney Swans and Raine & Horne Mosman before moving to the US. She had been isolated from her family since mid-2024, according to her father Tony, who said he wasn’t aware his daughter was pregnant until the children were born.

Tony Bowler said the family had attempted to orchestrate welfare checks from afar but “hit a wall”, leading to a situation “no parent wants to go through”.

The boys are living with their paternal grandmother in Florida and the Bowlers can only communicate with them through a monthly court-mandated Zoom call, where they’ve noticed “some trauma” in the children.

“The two-year-old has got some speech issues,” Tony told this masthead. “What they went through, it’s not unexpected [with] these kids.”

The family has had minimal contact with the “lovely” boys over the course of their lives, both born at home without medical assistance.

The Bowler family want to raise Meaghan’s children in Australia, led by Terrigal-based aunt Madisson Bowler, but face a precarious path to legal custody while administrative obstacles block their way.

The family has to apply for Australian citizenship for the boys, who don’t have US birth certificates or social security numbers, adding to a complex process that the family estimates will require their temporary relocation to Florida for up to a year.

Tony estimated only 50 lawyers in the US are capable of handling their case, finding that such a complicated matter comes with “great expenses”.

The family intends to apply for temporary custody of the children once they relocate to Florida, before pushing for permanent care. Recently, they retained a lawyer to negotiate what Tony called an “extremely fluid” case. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for mid-September.

Tom Sasser, the Florida-based president of the International Academy of Family Lawyers, said the Bowlers’ would “likely succeed” in obtaining custody of the boys if they can prove their capacity to care for the children.

Jones’ parental rights will almost certainly be terminated if he’s convicted of murder, he said, adding that in such cases it is “very unusual” for the family of the deceased to be denied custody.

“The mother’s family would need to step in and assert they have rights … They must show they can care for the children, and provide a safe and stable environment,” Sasser said.

“The preference for decades has been the deceased person’s family over the slayer.”

Mills Oakley Partner and Australian family law specialist Susan Warda noted that any custody agreement struck between the families and ratified in a Florida court could then receive a ‘mirror’ order in Australia.

This would ensure the maternal grandparents and aunt can make key decisions on the children’s future, such as health and education choices.

The Bowlers have established a fundraiser to support their proposed relocation to the US and the ensuing legal process, attracting almost $50,000 from more than 500 donors.

It comes as the emergency call made by Jones to a 911 operator in the hours after the Bowler’s death was published by The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, in which the alleged murderer is heard saying “I stabbed my wife and now she’s dead and I’m trying to resuscitate her”.

“I have two children, they have a grandmother they can go to,” said Jones, an unemployed real estate agent. The call was placed the day after the alleged stabbing occurred.

“We want to get help as soon as possible, I don’t mind being arrested or whatever has to happen, that’s all fine … she is currently in the bathtub.”

Jones was charged with murder by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, and is facing a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

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