Warning: This article contains names and images of the dead Aboriginal people. His family allowed his name and image.
In a shock to Australia, two men were sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering an Aboriginal primary school student.
Cassius Turvey died of head injuries after a brutal attack on the outskirts of Perth in October 2022. The 15-year-old killing prompted nationwide protests and vigils, and also sparked fierce protests Debate on universal racism In the country.
Killer, Jack Breley and Brody PalmerJustice Peter Quinlan said on Friday that they chased Turvey and defeated the Noongar Yamatji boy “is apathy and lack of empathy”.
Mitchell Forth, convicted of manslaughter, was sentenced to 12 years in jail.
According to local media reports, the gallery cheered when Justice Quinlan preached the sentence, while Cassius’s mother, Mechelle Turvey, cried.
At the trial, Brearley, 24, and Palmer, 30, blamed each other for the death of Cassius.
Justice Quinlan found Breley hit hard, adding that he showed “no remorse”.
Brearley claimed that Cassius was holding a knife and he acted in self-defense and the judge refused to “completely fabricate”.
“You won’t be able to make changes when you don’t acknowledge the pain you’ve caused.
“To avoid responsibility, you can’t feel remorseful… You’re trying to frame an innocent person and when it doesn’t work, you provide false evidence that your co-defendant is actually a killer.”
Palmer did not physically attack Cassius, but Justice Quinlan ruled that he was “same responsibility but not the same crime.”
The group also attacked other Aboriginal teenagers, which the judge called “the so-called guardian of justice (that) was completely misled.”
The fourth criminal, Ethan Mackenzie, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for his post in some other attacks.
In one case, a 13-year-old boy’s own crutches were used to beat him, causing his face to be bruised.
Prosecutors said the group had been “looking for children” because someone had damaged Breley’s windows.
They say the attack on Cassius was the climax of a complex series of selling events that had nothing to do with him.
Justice Quinlan condemned Breley, Palmer and Fox’s “celebration” after the attack, calling it “weirdly showing the lives of your child who completely ignored the attack.”
Cassius’ mother Mechelle Turvey said in a victim impact statement Thursday that the actions of the three were racially motivated.
“Casius is not only a part of my life, but my future,” Ms. Turi said. “No words can fully capture the destruction of losing someone you like violence.”
Although Justice Quinlan did not find that the attack was racially motivated, he said the attackers’ use of racial slander “ripples” among Aboriginal communities and created “reasonable fear.”
“Fear is real and legal. You are responsible for this fear,” he said.
