Four people accused of fatally bashing Indigenous Perth teenager Cassius Turvey have pleaded not guilty to his murder and been committed to stand trial.
Cassius, a 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy, was allegedly chased down and attacked with a metal pole as he walked home from school with friends on October 13, 2022.
He suffered serious head injuries and died in hospital 10 days later, triggering an outpouring of grief and anger across the nation, with some Indigenous leaders condemning the alleged assault as cowardly and racist.
Brodie Lee Palmer, 27, Mitchell Colin Forth, 24, Jack Steven James Brearley, 21, and Aleesha Louise Gilmore, 20, were charged with murder.
They briefly appeared on Wednesday via video link in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court where they entered not guilty pleas.
Brearley and Forth also denied kidnapping and wounding another 15-year-old boy in the days before Cassius was attacked.
The teen was allegedly chased down on October 9 and punched, kicked and stabbed before being taken to a house where he was held for some time.
Gilmore pleaded not guilty to detaining the same boy.
Brearley, Forth, Palmer and Gilmore also pleaded not guilty to assaulting and stealing from a third person on the same day as Cassius was allegedly attacked. Gilmore also denied causing bodily harm to the same youth,
The group were remanded in custody until July 31 for their first appearance in the Supreme Court, when a trial date is expected to be announced.
Brearley was charged in October. Palmer, Forth and Gilmore were charged in January.
Cassius has been remembered as a loving son and a role model to his friends. He had started his own lawn-mowing business and was invited at age 11 to deliver an acknowledgement of country at the WA parliament.
Some members of his family attended court on Wednesday but they declined to speak to media.
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-AAP
