Witnesses say he stopped breathing while still on the ground. Despite emergency efforts from paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

“He was disabled and on the NDIS. He was hungry. He was under state guardianship – under the care and protection of the Minister. And it was the state that killed him,” said Debbie Kilroy, a leading prison abolition advocate with the National Network.

“We are horrified, but not surprised,” said Tabitha Lean, a network spokesperson and campaigner against the incarceration of First Nations women.

Both Kilroy and Lean are currently in Mparntwe supporting the community and calling for immediate and systemic change, including independent investigationi free from police involvement and investment in community-controlled and culturally safe support systems