‘Be happy baby’: Family members join vigil for slain woman Courtney Herron
Updated
A large number of family members have joined hundreds of people in Melbourne’s Royal Park to pay silent tribute to the life of 25-year-old Courtney Herron.
Key points:
- About 500 people braved cold and wet conditions to join a silent vigil at the site of Courtney Herron’s death
- Organiser Jessamy Gleeson says these vigils are “not a one-off”, with several other women killed in public places recently
- Henry Hammond, 27, of no fixed address, has been charged with Ms Herron’s murder
Under lightly falling rain, people wept and knelt at the site where Ms Herron’s body was discovered last weekend.
Family members held a large photo of Ms Herron and read scores of tributes that were placed at the site.
Her mother, Maxie, thanked people for coming.
“It’s been raining all day and now it’s stopped. Be happy baby,” her mother said.
The body of Ms Herron, of no fixed address, was found in Royal Park in Parkville, just north of Melbourne’s CBD, on Saturday morning.
Henry Hammond, 27, also of no fixed address, was charged with her murder and remanded in custody until September.
Police said Ms Herron had experienced issues with drugs and mental illness and had been couch-surfing and sleeping rough.
Ms Herron’s death came less than a year after Melbourne woman Eurydice Dixon was found dead in Carlton’s Princes Park, less than 2 kilometres from Royal Park.
In the months since, public outrage has followed the deaths of Aiia Maasarwe in January and Natalina Angok last month, both of whom were also found dead in public places.
‘Unimaginable tragedy for our family’
Family violence support worker Louise Karch recited a poem at the vigil, naming all four women.
“May their deaths make us warriors,” she said.
While the vigil was supposed to be silent, another woman spoke to the crowd.
“If you’re around people who are denouncing women, you need to call it out … we need to put an end to all of this,” she said.
Police have stepped up patrols in the park since Ms Herron’s death and members of the public have left floral tributes at the spot where her body was found.
In a statement on Thursday, Ms Herron’s father John Herron said his daughter’s death was “an unimaginable tragedy for our family”.
Mr Herron asked the media to respect the family’s right to grieve in private.
Vigil co-organiser Jessamy Gleeson told ABC Radio that the vigil aimed to honour Ms Herron’s life.
“More broadly it’s a way for us to generally draw attention to the fact that we keep doing these vigils, it’s not a one-off for us,” she said.
“Our vigils are organised for every woman and child that is [killed] at the hands of a man in Australia, and consistently at the moment we’re doing vigils almost every week as a result.”
Ms Gleeson said the vigil had been organised with the blessing of Ms Herron’s family.
Accused’s family speak of his mental illness
Earlier this week, the family of Ms Herron’s alleged murderer, Henry Hammond, released a statement saying the family was is “in deep shock over the tragic death of Courtney Herron”.
“Henry Hammond grew up loved by his family and friends. For many years he has struggled with mental illness, more recently drug issues and homelessness,” the statement said.
“Our deepest sympathy and compassion goes out to Courtney’s family and friends on their heartbreaking loss.”
Mr Hammond briefly faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday, where the court heard he may have autism and a “delusional disorder”.
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