Everything we know about the alleged violent attack on Dr Michael Yung inside his Gilberton home
South Australia is in a state of shock and mourning after the brutal alleged murder of one of Adelaide’s most prominent doctors. Here’s how the horrific crime unfolded.
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On Monday, South Australia was sent into a state of shock as news broke that top Adelaide pediatrician Dr Michael Yung was fighting for his life after allegedly being brutally attacked in a violent break-in at his Gilberton home.
On Tuesday night, SA Police announced he had died, with a young couple charged with his murder shortly after.
Here is everything we know about the case.
Who is Dr Michael Yung?
Dr Michael Yung, 61, was the former head of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit.
After stepping down from the role, he became the hospital’s most senior pediatric consultant and has been a passionate campaigner for Indigenous health.
His heartbroken brother has described him as a “truly selfless man”, as tributes pour in from all over the state, from families of his many young patients to grieving colleagues.
What happened?
About 4.20am Monday, December 11, Dr Yung was allegedly attacked inside his $2m James St, Gilberton home during a violent home invasion.
He was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with life-threatening injuries, including being stabbed in his abdomen.
Family flew in from interstate and overseas to be by his bedside.
On Tuesday night on December 12, SA Police announced Dr Yung had died.
His family, including his two adult sons, sister and brother, had earlier made the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life support machine in the RAH’s intensive care unit.
His brother Simon described him as a “truly selfless man”, telling 7 News he was confident the late doctor didn’t know his alleged killers.
Duo charged with murder
Young couple Kerem Aydin, 22, and Jacinta Davila, 27, were arrested on Tuesday, December 12, and charged with murder.
Details have now emerged of Mr Aydin’s time as a child living in Tailem Bend, 100km south east of Adelaide, and in Murray Bridge.
He played football at the local club and participated in karate lessons in the local town hall.
Major Crime detectives and STAR Group officers arrested Mr Aydin and Ms Davila at Torrensville.
They were charged with murder, aggravated serious criminal trespass and commit theft using force.
It is further alleged, Mr Aydin and Ms Davila were arrested after they shoplifted medical supplies from Chemist Warehouse and Drake’s Foodland at Torrensville to treat wounds he sustained in the incident.
YOU CAN WATCH THE ARREST VIDEO HERE
The pair, who have an eight-month-old child together, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Wednesday, December 13.
Police confirmed detectives were not seeking any other suspects and no connection had been identified between the arrested duo and those being sought for a recent crime spree across Adelaide.
Mr Aydin and Ms Davila are not linked to Operation Mandrake investigations and no other suspects are being sought over Dr Yung’s murder.
The police investigation
Police on Tuesday, December 12, revealed a youth crime task force was investigating a “crime series” in the days before the attack on Dr Yung.
Major Crime Investigation Branch boss Detective Superintendent Des Bray said all of his available detectives had been allocated to the case, while Operation Mandrake, which was established in 2003 to investigate Indigenous youth crime, is investigating up to 15 potentially related incidents in some of Adelaide’s wealthiest suburbs.
Operation Mandrake detectives are investigating break-ins and car thefts in Gilberton, Medindie, Walkerville, Henley Beach, Fulham and Tennyson.
On Wednesday, Acting Commissioner Linda Williams said a couple arrested over the murder were not linked to Operation Mandrake or the previous incidents.
Watch the dramatic arrest video
Dramatic security camera footage has captured the moment police tackled a man suspected of murdering an Adelaide doctor, before chasing down his fleeing partner.
CCTV footage at the Torrensville Plaza shows the couple calmly walking out the door of the shopping centre to the car park about 6.30pm on Tuesday when a police officer suddenly grabs an unsuspecting Kerem Aydin from behind, flinging him to the ground in a single motion.
His co-accused partner Jacinta Davila can be seen pushing a pram with a baby as she attempts to make a run for it but is quickly detained by other heavily armed STAR Group officers as startled shoppers watch.
The footage emerged after the couple who allegedly murdered top doctor Michael Yung were caught when they allegedly stole medical supplies from a chemist to treat wounds sustained while breaking into his home, a court has heard.
Who was his wife?
Dr Yung was married to Kathryn Browne-Yung – an eminent health policy expert – who mysteriously died in her sleep in March 2020.
She trained as a pediatric nurse in England before migrating to Australia where she met Michael.
She then obtained a PhD and became health policy researcher at Flinders University.
She had a lifelong interest in social justice issues and had ambitions of establishing a scholarship to help Aboriginal medical students.
After her death, Dr Yung established the Kathryn Browne-Yung Scholarship Fund to continue her vision.
The purpose of the Kathryn Browne-Yung Scholarship fund is to provide an annual scholarship to a first-year Aboriginal medical student to enable them to concentrate on their studies.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked for donations to the Kathryn Browne-Yung Scholarship Fund.
Why did they target Dr Yung’s house?
Police allege the attack was random.
The Advertiser understands prosecutors will make no allegation that Kerem Aydin and Jacinta Davila had any prior connection to, interaction with or knowledge of Dr Yung prior to his alleged murder.
In court documents, however, police allege the couple’s motive was to enter Dr Yung’s home as trespassers.
The documents allege they had “the intention of” stealing “property of the value of more than $30,000”, and “used or threatened to use an offensive weapon” at the time.
Additionally, prosecutors have told the court that the ladder allegedly used by the couple to enter Dr Yung’s home was already in place, and neither brought nor positioned by them.
They allegedly gained access to Dr Yung’s home through an upstairs window, leaving behind a head torch from which their DNA was later recovered, before heading downstairs.
There, it is alleged, they encountered Dr Yung and, after a scream and a loud noise was heard, he was found with critical head and spinal injuries.
Under SA law, police and prosecutors do not have to prove a motive in order to pursue murder charges against alleged offenders.
Jacinta’s mother Mary hit with barrage of online abuse
Social media users have taken to Facebook to attack the mother of the woman accused of murdering prominent South Australian pediatrician Michael Yung.
Jacinta Davila, 27, and her co-accused Kreme Aydin, 22, have been charged with one count each of murder, serious criminal trespass and committing theft using force.
Since news broke of their charges, the mother of the murder-accused Mary Davila has had a barrage of abusive comments on several of her posts.
Gilberton – affluent suburb a hotbed of vicious crime
Mellor Court Housing trust a long-held cause for concern
A block of units metres from the scene of Dr Yung’s attack has been an issue for years for surrounding neighbours.
In 2020, SA Housing vowed to boot problem residents from one of its Gilberton complexes as it pushes for “a better tenancy mix” to improve safety in the area.
At a presentation to Walkerville Council about anti-social behaviour at Mellor Court, SA Housing representatives said they were trying to get the “right cohort” to create a better community atmosphere.
SA Housing said it had identified tenants it wanted to keep in the complex, whereas tenants who engaged in anti-social behaviour would be transferred elsewhere or evicted.
SA Housing representative Andrew Ciechanowicz told the meeting he “had seen a decline in customer base at the complex”, so work had started on getting a better tenant mix.
“We want people of different age groups, not just one particular cohort which I think at the moment is a single male of a certain age group with a certain background,” Mr Ciechanowicz said.
2020 – Man killed friend of 30 years over bottle of whiskey
A man was charged over the death of his 63-year-old neighbour in Gilberton in May 2020.
The victim was fatally assaulted at the Mellor Court Housing Trust units on James Street, Gilberton.
Police and paramedics were called to a block of flats in James St just before 9.30pm on Saturday, May 23 after reports a resident had been seriously assaulted.
The 63-year-old victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Detectives and forensic examiners attended the scene overnight.
Just after 3am the following day, a man was arrested at Underdale.
In March, Johnny William Walters, 49, was acquitted of murder but found guilty of the manslaughter of his friend John “Jock” McLellan.
The court heard the pair had got into a drunken argument over a “petty complaint” about a bottle of whisky, which escalated into a fight.
2019 – Woman charged after man stabbed in the chest with a chopstick
A woman was arrested and charged over a chopstick stabbing that left an Adelaide man fighting for life in March 2019.
Emergency services were called to a different block of Housing Trust flats on Park Tce, Gilberton, just after 4.30pm amid reports of a stabbing.
Paramedics treated the alleged victim, 26, at the scene after finding a chopstick penetrating the left side of his chest.
He was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where was in a critical condition with life-threatening chest injuries after emergency surgery. The pair were known to each other, police said.
2017 – 38yo woman stabbed to death
A 38-year-old woman was found with a serious stab wound to the upper leg at Mellor Court in April 2017. She died in hospital two days later, with a 41-year-old man charged with murder.
A shocked neighbour spoke of the bloody scene inside a bathroom where the woman was found overnight.
Police were dispatched to Mellor Court in Gilberton at about 11.45pm on the Tuesday after receiving reports of an altercation between people at a unit.
When officers arrived they found an unconscious woman who was bleeding heavily from a stab wound to the upper left leg in the bathroom.
Ambulance officers treated the 38-year-old woman at the scene before she was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
A 38-year-old man was also treated at the scene for head injuries after allegedly being punched several times by the same person suspected of stabbing the woman.
– With Andrew Hough, George Yankovich, Dylan Hogarth and Tara Miko
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