source : the age
This story contains the name and images of an Indigenous person who has died.
A man who turned himself in over the death of a young Indigenous woman in a Carlton apartment on the weekend knew the dead woman, police say.
Homicide squad detectives are set to interview the arrested 31-year-old, three days after the body of Jayda Lou-Eve Allen Bonner was found dead in the building on Cardigan Street at about 1.45am on Saturday.
The 21-year-old’s death has prompted an outpouring of grief from the wider community, while her family told this masthead she had endured isolation and abuse in the lead-up to her death.
A smoking ceremony in her honour has been organised for Saturday at the public housing towers in Lygon Street, Carlton, after which those who attend will walk up to Parliament House in a demonstration against domestic violence.
A GoFundMe has also been set up in her honour and has raised $4500 so far.
Jayda’s aunt Kellie Carter-Bell told this masthead that she was held captive in the unit for months and had “bite marks all over her body” before being found dead.
Six weeks ago, Jayda and her mother filed a police report about the alleged abuse she had endured, but the complaint was withdrawn.
A 60-year-old man was arrested shortly after Bonner was found dead, but was then released.
In an update on Tuesday morning, police said the 31-year-old Carlton man handed himself in at a police station.
Bonner’s family has remembered her as a proud Indigenous woman who loved nature and dreamed of moving to Brisbane to be near her family network and work with children.
More to come.
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