Jayda’s body was so badly injured, her mum couldn’t look as she held her hand one last time

This story contains the name and images of an Indigenous person who has died.

A man who turned himself in over the death of an Indigenous woman in a Carlton apartment on the weekend knew the deceased, police say.

Homicide squad detectives are set to interview the arrested 31-year-old man after the body of Jayda Lou-Eve Allen Bonner was found dead in the Cardigan Street residence about 1.45am on Saturday.

Police said the Carlton man attended a police station and handed himself in.

The young woman’s death has prompted an outpouring of grief from the community.

A smoking ceremony in Bonner’s honour has been organised for Saturday at the public housing towers on Lygon Street, Carlton. After, attendees will walk to Parliament House in a demonstration against domestic violence.

A GoFundMe has also been set up in the 21-year-old’s honour and has raised more than $6000 so far, while a wall on Cardigan Street has been plastered with messages of love for Bonner and her family. “Jayda, we love you, you mattered,” read one tribute.

After police confirmed the man’s arrest on Tuesday, Bonner’s aunt, Kellie Carter-Bell, said the love being shown for her niece had helped the family cope with the loss.

“I wish Jayda could have seen this. She would be rapt to see that people cared,” Carter-Bell said.

“She went to see her aunty and her father [in Queensland] a couple of years ago, and there were some little children being harassed by some older children, and she took them back home to their mummy, so they couldn’t be hurt any more. That’s the kind of person she was, she had a soul of gold.”

Carter-Bell said she hoped people would attend Saturday’s planned rally to learn about the reality for victims of abuse, and that she had been one herself.

“Please never ask us, ‘Why don’t you just leave?’ What you can say is, ‘What can I do to help you get out safely?’”

Six weeks ago, Bonner and her mother filed a police report about the alleged abuse she had endured, but the complaint was later withdrawn.

Carter-Bell said before her death, the 21-year-old had been held captive in the Cardigan Street unit for months, and had “bite marks all over her body”.

She said during that time, Bonner jumped into a stranger’s car and was driven to her mother’s house, before later returning to Cardigan Street.

Carter-Bell said the alleged abuse her niece suffered in her final weeks was making it hard for the family to put her to rest. She said the family was not allowed to see her body to say goodbye due to the nature of the injuries, but Bonner’s mother was able to hold her hand one last time.

“We can’t say our goodbyes properly,” she said. “We have to do it in a way that won’t leave us scarred forever.”

A 60-year-old man was arrested shortly after Bonner was found dead, but was later released.

There have been 55 women killed as a result of gendered violence in Australia in 2026, according to advocacy body Australian Femicide Watch.

If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.

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