October 10, 2026 — 7:50pm
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This story contains the name and images of an Indigenous person who has died.
For months, 21-year-old Jayda Lou-Eve Allen Bonner was isolated and held captive in a Carlton unit before being found dead, her family says.
“She wasn’t allowed to go anywhere on her own. She wasn’t allowed to have any friends. She wasn’t even allowed to go to the doctors,” Jayda’s aunt Kellie Carter-Bell told this masthead.
Jayda Lou-Eve Allen Bonner. (Image used with the permission of family.)Nine News
“In the end, being an Indigenous girl, she was involved in the Aboriginal Health Service there. But even the last four weeks, she hasn’t been there, which is unusual.”
A memorial for Jayda Lou-Eve Allen Bonner in Cardigan Street, Carlton, on Saturday evening.Eleanor Campbell
The 21-year-old, who was born in Melbourne’s inner north, was found dead in an apartment complex on Cardigan Street about 1.45am on Saturday.
A man was arrested nearby. He was interviewed by police and released pending further inquiries.
Her family said they were “absolutely crushed” and “frustrated” by her death, which they claim could have been avoided.
Six weeks ago, Jayda and her mother filed a police report about the alleged abuse she had endured.
“She was covered in bite marks. Her fingers had been overly cut. Her toes had been severely cut. She had black ears bruised … she had bite marks all over her body,” Carter-Bell said.
After withdrawing the complaint, her family alleges Jayda was held trapped an apartment where she was kept isolated from friends and subjected to “horrendous abuse”.
“I’ve suffered 23 years myself, but some of the things she told me six weeks ago, it was hard to even fathom that someone could do that to somebody else,” her aunt said.
According to her family, Jayda was a proud Indigenous girl who loved nature. She dreamed of moving to Brisbane to live with her extended family and work with children.
The investigation is ongoing, a police spokesperson said.
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