A young woman who was attacked in Kununurra last September has died, leading WA Police to upgrade charges against her alleged assailant to murder.
The 26-year-old Indigenous woman was found injured and unconscious by police officers on patrol in the northern WA town on the night of 11 September, 2023.
She was taken to Kununurra Hospital by St John WA, and the following morning was flown to Royal Darwin Hospital by the Royal Flying Doctor Service, where she underwent emergency surgery for a head injury.
On 12 September police arrested David Junior Tax, 27, the woman's former partner, and Kununurra Detectives charged him with Aggravated Grievous Bodily Harm and breach of a Family Violence Restraining Order. On Thursday, 29 February, the GBH charge was changed to murder.
More than sixty women were killed in domestic violence attacks in Australia in 2023.
Indigenous women are eight times more likely than non-Indigenous women to be killed in Australia. Figures from the Australian Institute of Criminology show a many of these deaths are caused by domestic violence.
