Inquest into death of Michelle Foster hears killer Jayden Lowah was released from jail 41 days earlier

A mentally ill killer was released from prison just 41 days before brutally beating a woman to death outside the Colonnades Shopping Centre, an inquest has heard.

A homeless mentally ill man who brutally beat a woman to death went to hospital a day after his release because he was homeless and feeling homicidal, an inquest has heard.

Jayden Tanee Lowah was found not guilty of the murder of Michelle Foster outside the Colonnades Shopping Centre on October 24, 2018 – just 41 days after his release from prison – by reason of mental incompetence. He was ordered to serve a period of indefinite mental health supervision.

Opening the inquest on Monday, counsel assisting the coroner Peter Longson said the inquest would examine Lowah’s release from custody on September 14, 2018, after he served a 12-month jail term for separate assaults against strangers.

“This inquest will examine how it came to be that Lowah, aged 20, suffering schizophrenia, who had repeatedly demonstrated whilst in custody his inability to act in his own best interests, with a history of random acts of violence against members of the public, was released from Yatala Labour Prison … into homelessness,” he said.

About 2.30am the next day, Lowah called for an ambulance because he was feeling homicidal.

At hospital, Lowah told a psychiatric registrar that he would “probably kill someone”, but did not have a particular target in mind.

“Mr Lowah then went on to say that if he does kill someone it won’t be his fault and … inferred some mental impairment issue.”

Michelle Foster, who was found murdered at Colonnades Shopping Centre, in 2018. Picture: Facebook

Andrea Foster, mother of Michelle Foster, arrives at the Coroners Court at the start of an inquest into her death. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

He also complained to the registrar that he had been released from prison into homelessness.

Staff deemed he was seeking “secondary gain”, or accommodation, and sent him back to the emergency department with no active intervention.

“It seems difficult to understand at this stage, even putting aside the homicidal ideation … that his situation was not one of either crisis, or imminent crisis requiring intervention,” Mr Longson said.

“Then coupling that with his expressed desire to kill someone, given his history, his random acts of violence, something more than sending Lowah back to the emergency department with nothing more than a note saying ‘please re refer if required’ was needed.”

Mr Lowah was released and went to stay with his father at Goolwa, where he remained until October 24.

On October 22, a mental health service nurse contacted Lowah and arranged to give him antipsychotic medication, but after organising a script, discovered it was not in stock at the local pharmacy until the next day.

Lowah received his first Centrelink payment at 3pm on October 24 and bought a bus ticket to travel to Noarlunga, arriving about 7.20pm. He then bought a six-pack of pre-mixed bourbon cans.

He killed Ms Foster, who was a stranger, in a brutal attack later that night.

Mr Longson said Lowah provided a “brutally frank” and “merciless” account of the attack in a subsequent police interview.

The Supreme Court previously heard Lowah was suffering delusions and believed killing Ms Foster would free him from “mind control” and reunite him with his “original parents” on another planet.

Yatala Labour Prison social worker Stephanie Zulian told the court she had contacted numerous agencies prior to Lowah’s release in an effort to find him accommodation.

She said she had been unable to engage with some services because Mr Lowah would not sign consent paperwork.

“I had concerns,” she said. “He said to me his preference was to be homeless.”

She told the court she had contacted police prior to Lowah’s release and provided him with leaflets of information about where to stay and told him to go to hospital if he felt he wanted to harm himself or others.

The inquest is continuing.