Manslaughter charges after men allegedly ignored advice for overdosing Illawarra woman
Two men are facing manslaughter charges after they allegedly failed to get medical help for an Illawarra mum who died of a heroin overdose.
NSW
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Two men charged with manslaughter after an Illawarra woman died of a heroin overdose after a night out allegedly ignored advice from a taxi driver that they should call an ambulance, a court has heard.
Kye Conlon and Brayden Hamilton are both facing a charge of manslaughter after Rachel Ayuso was found dead at a home in Oak Flats on July 13, 2022, just hours after CCTV footage captured her snorting a line of heroin with friends outside the Shellharbour Club.
Police will allege the two men engaged in “gross criminal negligence” by failing to exercise an assumed “duty of care” to Ms Ayuso and get her medical help when she first began showing symptoms of toxic drug overdose.
According to documents tendered to the NSW Supreme Court, Ms Ayuso had spent the night inside the club drinking with Conlon, Hamilton and others, however witnesses said Ms Ayuso did not appear overly drunk when the party left the venue just before 3.20am.
CCTV footage captured the group speaking in the carpark for about 30 minutes before Conlon was allegedly seen to pour a white powder onto his phone.
Ms Ayuso, Conlon and Hamilton then allegedly snorted the powder off the device.
The court documents said Ms Ayuso was seen dancing around “having a good time” until she stopped “all of a sudden … and was out of it”.
The court heard she appeared unsteady on her feet and was rocking backwards and forwards until she eventually fell onto the roadway.
Some of the group tried to wake her out of concern for her wellbeing, but also reported hearing her snoring, court documents state.
Meanwhile, a taxi driver arrived at the venue at 3.57am but refused to transport the group, including Ms Ayuso, after seeing her laying on the ground, motionless, with the men surrounding her.
“You need to call an ambulance,” the driver told them.
“I can’t take her … I mean she’s too drunk, I can’t, sorry.”
One of the group allegedly threatened the driver, but he still refused to accept the fare.
The court heard a friend eventually came and picked up Conlon, Hamilton and Ms Ayuso and drove them to Hamilton’s home in Oak Flats just before 5am.
The driver allegedly told police he never saw Ms Ayuso move during the trip – she had allegedly been carried to the car by some of the men – but reported hearing her snoring as he drove.
It is alleged Hamilton and Conlon carried Ms Ayuso into the house and put her in bed, before Conlon returned to the car and left the premises.
The court heard Hamilton woke up sometime around 11.30am and tried unsuccessfully to wake Ms Ayuso.
He then called his mother – a former nurse – who arrived at her son’s house about midday and discovered Ms Ayuso was dead.
A forensic examination of Ms Ayuso’s body found she had died from a heroin overdose, however two forensic experts asked to determine a time of death gave differing answers in their final reports.
One said there was “strong evidence” on the basis of the autopsy and toxicology reports that Ms Ayuso had died about 30 minutes after she ingested the heroin, meaning she was already deceased by the time the taxi driver arrived just before 4am.
But a second expert put Ms Ayuso’s time of death at just after 5am, by which time she was already in bed in Hamilton’s home.
The time difference is likely to be a key point of contention during Conlon and Hamilton’s trial, which is unlikely to take place until 2026.
The court heard both men were arrested and charged in December last year, with Hamilton released on bail a day later.
Conlon was remanded in custody for five months before being granted bail by the NSW Supreme Court in May.
Both men are yet to enter pleas to the charges but are expected to defend the allegations at trial. Their cases will return to court in July.
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Originally published as Manslaughter charges after men allegedly ignored advice for overdosing Illawarra woman
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