The jury heard the attack on Cassius Turvey was ‘the end point of a complex series of events’. Photograph: Daniel Wilkins/AAPView image in fullscreenThe jury heard the attack on Cassius Turvey was ‘the end point of a complex series of events’. Photograph: Daniel Wilkins/AAPWestern AustraliaCassius Turvey’s mother says son ‘hunted down for days’ after two men found guilty of murdering Indigenous teenagerJury in Western Australia finds two men guilty of 15-year-old’s murder and another guilty of manslaughter
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Australian Associated PressThu 8 May 2025 09.10 BSTFirst published on Thu 8 May 2025 05.07 BSTShareThe mother of a murdered Indigenous teenager who was chased into bushland and bashed with a metal pole says her son was “hunted down for days” and identified his killers before he died.Cassius Turvey, a Noongar Yamatji boy, died in hospital 10 days after he was “deliberately struck to the head” in Perth’s eastern suburbs on 13 October 2022, causing nationwide outrage.In a packed courtroom, Jack Steven James Brearley, 24, and Brodie Lee Palmer, 29, were convicted of murdering the 15-year-old by a jury after three days of deliberations.Mitchell Colin Forth, 27, who was also on trial in the Western Australian supreme court for Cassius’s murder, was found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter.Aleesha Louise Gilmore, 23, was acquitted by the jury of eight men and four women.
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Outside the court, Cassius’ mother, Mechelle Turvey, said her son had identified Brearley and Palmer the night he was attacked.“My son died for absolutely nothing,” she said, with some family and supporters chanting “justice for Cassius”.“His life was taken. He was hunted down for days … 15 years of age, my son has finally got justice. May he live for ever.”Turvey said it was a “sore point” for her that police did not take a statement from Cassius before he died because of his head injury.View image in fullscreenMurder victim Cassius Turkey’s mum Mechelle Turvey speaks to media with her family and supporters on 8 May. Photograph: Aaron Bunch/AAPAsked about the verdicts, Turvey said she was “numb with relief” after it was read.“Justice to me will never be served because I don’t have my son, and he’s not coming back … They can just rot as far as I’m concerned,” she said.Turvey thanked her family, supporters, investigators and the 91 witnesses who gave evidence during the three-month trial.“Most of them were young children that are scarred for life and that helped my son on the day,” she said.The prosecutor Ben Stanwix told the jury at the start of the mammoth 12-week trial that Brearley delivered the fatal blows while “hunting for kids” because somebody had smashed his car windows.It was alleged Forth and Palmer aided him.Brearley denied he struck Cassius with a pole, saying he only punched him after the teen knifed him and that Palmer did the deed, which he in turn denied as the two men attempted to blame each other for the murder during the trial.The jury was told the attack on Cassius in bushland near a creek was “the end point of a complex series of events that had absolutely nothing to do with him”.They started on 9 October when Forth, Brearley, Gilmore and another man allegedly “snatched two kids off the street” and unlawfully detained them, punching, kicking and stabbing one of them.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Breaking News AustraliaFree newsletterGet the most important news as it breaksEnter your email address Sign upPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionThe next incident happened three days later, on 12 October, when a group of school-age kids allegedly and “almost certainly in retribution” smashed the windows of Brearley’s car.Stanwix told the jury it was “tit-for-tat escalation” and Brearley and Forth had later used a car as a weapon and chased down two boys, hitting one of them.Cassius Turvey: studious, joyful and proud – a nation mourns a young life takenRead moreThe following day, Cassius and a group of about 20 fellow students caught a bus to the same area to watch a fight that had been talked about on social media.Brearley, Forth and Palmer intercepted them near the field and in a series of incidents, Brearley was allegedly slashed with a knife, and another boy was struck in the face with a metal pole.Cassius and some other “terrified school kids” fled into nearby bushland.“Cassius didn’t make it as far as the fence,” Stanwix said.“He was caught, knocked to the ground and deliberately struck [in] the head with a metal pole.”Cassius was struck at least twice, the impact splitting his ear in half and causing bleeding in his brain.His death shocked the community, and the attack was described by some, including the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, as racially motivated, although Stanwix said this was not the case in his opening remarks.All told, the five defendants variously faced 21 charges over the events of 9 and 13 October.The jury found them guilty of all except Gilmore’s murder charge, and a stealing charge faced by Brearley.Explore more on these topicsWestern AustralianewsShareReuse this content
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