Warning: This story contains the name and images of an Indigenous person who has died.
Hundreds of mourners have gathered in Melbourne to pay tribute to Aboriginal woman Jayda Lou-Eve Allen Bonner and call for justice following her death last weekend.
Ms Bonner, 21, was found dead in a fifth-floor apartment in a complex on Cardigan Street in the inner-north suburb of Carlton at about 1.45 am on October 10 after emergency services were called.
There has been an outpouring of grief following the 21-year-old's death, with the vigil outside the apartment where she was found covered in letters and images.
On Saturday, a smoking ceremony was held to honour the Yagera woman's life before the crowd marched to state parliament.
There were chants of "Jayda" from the crowd, with many brandishing posters with her face and slogans reading "Justice for Jayda" as well as calling for a national registry for domestic violence offenders.
Ms Bonner's aunt, Kelly Carter-Bell, told National Indigenous Times that her niece had a "heart of gold and a soul for Country".
"She meant so much," Ms Carter-Bell said. "She was a fierce fighter. She was a warrior girl, and she really deserves to be here."
On Wednesday, homicide detectives announced they had charged Liban Ali, 31, with the murder of Ms Bonner. He has been remanded in custody.
Victoria Police allege Mr Ali, who turned himself in on Tuesday morning, knew Ms Bonner. The pair reportedly lived together for two years.
Ms Carter-Bell said Ms Bonner's life "could have been saved" but "it wasn't".
"We weren't listened to. Jayda wasn't listened to until it was too late," she said.
"You need to understand that domestic violence doesn't always look like bruises — it doesn't discriminate.
"It's happening behind closed doors every day, more than...a lot of people would ever understand. It's just horrific, and it's really, really, really hard to leave."
Antoinette Braybrook, CEO of Aboriginal family violence service Djirra, told National Indigenous Times the organisation came down to support Ms Bonner's family and call for justice for the 21-year-old.
"We want to know why the system can so easily lock us up [and] take our children away," Ms Braybrook said, "but not immediately connect us to services for our safety, to save our lives."
She said they were "tired of hearing" about so many women who have been killed. Ms Bonner was at least the 55th woman and the seventh Aboriginal woman allegedly killed in Australia in 2026.
"There is so much more work that governments and funders can do to support Aboriginal organisations," Ms Braybrook said.
"When we see tragedies such as this, we often see more resources going into police and government agencies, but that's not the solution. The solution is frontline services, and for Aboriginal women-led services for safety."
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On Friday, over 25 organisations and individuals released a statement arguing the alleged circumstances of Ms Bonner's death can't pass "without accountability," stating it was "entirely preventable, not inevitable".
Ms Bonner's death highlights "widespread systems failure, especially of the management of [alleged] high-risk family violence offenders," as well as the "management of offenders leaving prison and how we support Aboriginal women and their families to be heard and believed," the organisations said in a statement led by Djirra.
"We are furious that despite years of cultural safety training and daily work alongside Victoria Police, Corrections, Courts and the Department of Justice and Community Safety...Djirra and other specialist Aboriginal family violence, justice and health services remained invisible to the system.
"All the red flags were there, yet we were not called to help."
1800 Respect (1800 737 732)
Lifeline (13 11 14)
13YARN (13 92 76)
Yarning Safe'N'Strong (1800 959 563)
