The woman whose body was found at Royal Park in Melbourne’s inner north has been identified as Courtney Herron, a 25-year-old woman of no fixed residence with drug and mental-health issues.
Police have described the murder victim as “vulnerable” and said they had “failed on this occasion” to protect people like her in the community.
“Her mental health and her drug use (made) her particularly vulnerable,” said Homicide Squad Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper said in a press briefing on Sunday.
“This was a young woman who had significant challenges in life.
“We as a community should be protecting these people and we didn’t. We failed on this occasion.”
Detective Inspector Stamper said she had been couch surfing and sleeping rough.
“We do have a result from the post-mortem examination that revealed she died as a result of – a horrendous bashing – that’s the only way to describe it,” he said.
“The level of violence involved here was extreme in my view.
And look, I don’t mean to in any way diminish the death or homicide of any person but, you know, these ones strike a chord.
“And this was a particularly, particularly horrendous attack.”
He added she was known to have had issues with drugs and mental health.
“As we are all aware, homelessness is often a factor that goes with those two challenges in life.”
Her family had been notified, he said.
“It’s very much part of the challenge when there’s a child that suffered drug use, mental health issues, family relationships can be fragmented.
“I stress that doesn’t mean that families out there don’t love their children, and you know, our heart breaks for them.”
Police believe she was assaulted at the scene sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning.
Detective Inspector Stamper said there was no evidence at this stage that the attack had been sexually motivated.
‘Police contact’
Detectives have not established the circumstances leading up to her death but say her last confirmed sighting was in St Albans in Melbourne’s west on 14 May.
“We have some significant gaps in terms of where she’s been during that time,” Detective Inspector Stamper said.
He said they were using the 14 May as a reference point as she’d had “contact” with police on that date.
“Courtney had some very minor involvements with police, but ones I would stress are pretty much linked to her mental-health issues and her drug use as well,” he said.
“We are committed to finding the person, or people, responsible for this horrific attack.
“We are appealing for the community’s help and remind them that no piece of information is too big or too small.
“We know a number of people use this park and urge anyone with information or who may have seen anything suspicious to come forward.”
At the time of her death, Courtney was wearing a light brown sleeveless vest/jacket, a black hoodie, black track pants, black runners and a blue singlet top, which featured pink buildings, gold sequins and a large blue rose on the lower right side, police said.
Men’s behaviour
It comes as Premier Daniel Andrews said men’s attitudes to women need to change as Melbourne grapples with another tragic death of a woman.
Her body was found in Royal Park by dog walkers on Saturday morning, while her killer remains on the loose.
“This is a terrible tragedy,” Mr Andrews told reporters on Sunday.
The Premier, who delivered Australia’s first royal commission into family violence last term, said while the state had made significant progress on violence against women, there was more to be done.
“This is not about the way women behave. This is not about where women are at what hour,” he said.
“This is most likely about the behaviour of men.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius, who told reporters earlier that Melbourne was a safe city but attitudes against women needed to change.
“What is it in our community that allows some men to think that it’s still OK to attack women or take from women what they want?” he said.
“Violence against women is absolutely about men’s behaviour.”
The park is one of Melbourne’s busiest by day and used by rough sleepers at nigh and police have appealed for anyone who saw anything on Friday night or the early hours of Saturday to come forward.
It is also a short distance from Princes Park, where aspiring comedian Eurydice Dixon’s body was found on June 12 last year.
The death is the latest in a series of women killed and dumped on Melbourne’s streets since Ms Dixon’s rape and murder.
Aiia Maasarwe, 21, suffered a similar fate to Ms Dixon after being attacked on her walk home near La Trobe University on January 15.
Both women were attacked by men they did not know.
Jaymes Todd, 19, has pleaded guilty to the murder and rape of Ms Dixon and will return to court in August, while Codey Herrmann, 20, has been charged with attacking Ms Maasarwe.
And in April Natalina Angok’s body was found dumped in Chinatown, allegedly killed by her one-time partner Christopher Allen who has been charged.
Detectives say they’re in need of any piece of information the public can provide.
A heavy police presence will continue in the park in the coming days, with mounted police and officers on bikes to patrol the area.
“This is a horrendous crime, as all murders are, and particularly the murders of women and we’ve got our best people [investigating],” Detective Inspector Stamper said.
“Our focus as always will be on catching the perpetrator of this horrendous crime and I give the community my assurance that we won’t stop.”
Anyone with any information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.