Warning: This article contains the name and images of an Indigenous person who has died. His family has given permission to use his name and image.
Two men have been found guilty of the murder of Cassius Turvey, an Aboriginal schoolboy who was chased down by a vigilante gang and beaten, in a case which outraged Australia.
The 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy died of head injuries in October 2022, 10 days after he was brutally assaulted on the outskirts of Perth – prompting vigils and protests nationwide.
Four people were charged with his murder and Jack Steven James Brearley, 24, and Brodie Lee Palmer, 29, were on Thursday found guilty after a 12-week trial.
Mitchell Colin Forth, 27, was instead found guilty of manslaughter, and a woman who was with the trio in the moments before the attack was acquitted.
Speaking outside court, Cassius’ mum Mechelle Turvey said she was “numb with relief” at the verdict after “three months of hell”.
But she added that “justice, to me, will never be served because I don’t have my son, and he’s not coming back”.
The trial was told the attack on Cassius was the culmination of a complex series of tit-for-tat events “that had absolutely nothing to do with him”, according to the Australian Associated Press.
The group had been “hunting for kids” because somebody had damaged Brearley’s car windows, prosecutors said.
“Somebody smashed my car, they’re about to die,” Brearley was heard saying on CCTV footage captured shortly before the incident and played to the court.
There is no suggestion Cassius had any involvement in what happened to the car, but he was among a throng of kids who were confronted by the trio of men while walking along a suburban street after school.
A boy on crutches was assaulted, sending the others scattering through nearby bushland to escape.
Prosecutors alleged the trio caught Cassius and knocked him to the ground, where he was hit on the head at least twice with a short metal pole, leaving him with a brain bleed.
In the days after the attack, Cassius underwent surgeries in hospital, aimed at relieving the pressure on his brain and saving his life. Meanwhile, Brearley was caught on camera boasting about beating the child.
“He was laying in the field and I was just smacking him with a trolley pole so hard, he learnt his lesson,” he was heard saying on a phone call played at the trial, according to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Brearley told the court his assault on Cassius was self-defence, and claimed it was Palmer who had hit him with the metal pole. Palmer said the opposite, blaming Brearley.
Ultimately the jury found both responsible for his murder, and Forth guilty of manslaughter.
The men are due to return to court for sentencing hearing on 26 June.
Outside court, Mrs Turvey embarked on a list of thank yous, including for the trial witnesses, most of whom were “young children that are scarred for life”.
“I’d like to thank all of Australia, people that know us, for all of their love and support,” she added.
Speaking to the BBC the month after his death, Mrs Turvey said her son was beloved in the local community.
Along with two of his friends, he had set up a small business in order to reach out to neighbours and mow lawns. He wanted to change the negative stereotypes about Aboriginal youth in Australia.
“He was funny. He loved posing,” Mechelle Turvey said, showing photos of Cassius smiling.
His killing in 2022 sparked national grief and anger. Thousands of people attended vigils for Cassius in more than two dozen places across the country, with events also being held in the US and New Zealand.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claimed the attack was “clearly” racially motivated – though this was not advanced as a motive in court – and it reopened a national debate about racial discrimination.
“Australia does have a shocking reputation around the world for this kind of violence,” Human rights lawyer Hannah McGlade told the BBC at the time.
