Evander Tuala’s family prepares for coronial inquest following death after Oxford Hotel brawl

As a family braces for a coronial inquest into the death of a young man in an Oxford St brawl, a distraught mother is finding some comfort in her youngest child’s presence throughout the ordeal.

Claudia Tuala’s son Evander Bronson Tuala died after been assaulted outside the Oxford hotel in Darlinghurst. Picture Thomas Lisson

It’s just after midnight on a Saturday morning in April, 2022.

Claudia Tuala jolts awake after falling asleep in her Fairfield Westhome.

She feels a sharp pain. She grabs her phone. It’s 12.35am.

One of her sons is in trouble. She feels it.

“I fell asleep on the lounge and got up as if somebody was shaking me, and pushing me in the chest, and I thought ‘oh God, something’s wrong with one of my boys’,” Ms Tuala says.

Claudia Tuala with Evander and his girlfriend Melis.

“He (Evander) was panicking. I felt this great sense of panic.’’

Soon a phone call confirms her instincts are validated. A nightmare is unfolding.

Evander Tuala died after a vicious brawl at Darlinghurst. Picture: Jonathan Ng

A friend of her youngest son, 23-year-old Evander Tuala, says he is in hospital and can’t breathe after suffering a traumatic brain injury during an assault outside the Oxford Hotel in Darlinghurst.

Police recorded the time of the incident just after 12.30am.

A sense of foreboding had engulfed Ms Tuala before Evander, an apprentice electrician, had organised a night in the city with his mates.

She dreaded Evander and her eldest son, Laman, heading into the city with revellers restless after months of the Covid lockdown.

Tributes mount for Evander Tuala on Oxford St in Darlinghurst after he died at St Vincent's Hospital. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Evander was knocked unconscious outside the popular Oxford St pub after a group confronted Evander’s mates inside. Laman was at another venue nearby and heard the sirens blaring.

Ms Tuala’s “charismatic, vibrant” son and youngest of three children died in hospital 72 hours after he was assaulted, when the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life support was made.

Five men were charged with affray but Ms Tuala has been tormented that no one has been charged over his death.

In an eerie, ominous experience, the mother – who was still reeling from the death of her husband two years earlier and her father three months prior – said Evander foreshadowed his death might go unsolved.

During the unfathomable task of viewing her son’s body after an autopsy, she recalled vividly hearing her son.

“Everyone left the room,’’ she said.

Claudia Tuala is determined to find justice for her son. Picture: Thomas Lisson

“I could hear his voice in my head. He looked at me and he had this really defeated look on his face. It made no sense to me at the time and he said ‘look what they’ve done to me, this has been for nothing’.’’

Ms Tuala later linked that message to a detective telling her the case might never be resolved because of insufficient evidence.

After the court cases were finalised in 2023, to the Tuala family’s disappointment, offenders Joel Tutt, Byron Brown-Yeo, Keidan Donovan-Phillips, Rhamain Lee Dyer and Brayden Holten were convicted and sentenced to community correction orders, which allowed them to serve their sentences in the community, not behind bars.

Byron Brown-Yeo. Picture: Facebook

Keidan Donovan-Phillips. Picture: Facebook

The family, however, is hoping the coronial inquest scheduled for late August will hold accountability.

“I just want answers, this whole legal process has taken too long,’’ Ms Tuala said.

“This is something we did not plan for. We never imagined we would be waiting so long for justice for Evander or that as the family of the victim we would need to have legal representation.’’

The coronial inquest was initially slated to begin in November last year and Ms Tuala is crowd-funding to assist in covering legal expenses.

As they have done every year since his death, the Tuala family visited Evander’s grave on what would have been his 27th birthday at Forest Lawn Memorial Parkin Leppington on July 10.

It’s where she finds peace and feels the presence of her son, a former Westfield Sports High School student, most profoundly.

Claudia Tuala at her son Evander's grave on July 10, 2025, which would have been his 27th birthday.

“I was walking around one time and crying my head off, and my phone unlocked by itself and there was a photo of him. There’s little messages like that,’’ she recalled.

“I’ve had dreams where he says ‘this is how it has to be for me, you need to be stronger’.”

Another time Evander’s siblings cast their eyes to the hallway of the home. The unmistakeable sound of someone dragging their feet, just like Evander would do. But no one was in the hallway.

Evander was the cousin of Australian Rugby Sevens player Dietrich Roache and also enjoyed playing rugby union.

Ms Tuala said her son hoped to start a business after completing his apprenticeship, buy a house and eventually start his own family.

“He was charismatic, he was just non-stop talking, vibrant,’’ Ms Tuala said.

“If he walked into a room everyone noticed him.’’

She said she had not known her son to be involved in any fights.

“I’ve seen him stop fights multiple times,’’ she said.

“He would worry sometimes because he was quite big that he could be targeted. He just wanted to go out and have a good time. He loved to meet people, talk to people, make new friends.’’

For now, Ms Tuala is comforted by her late son’s spirit.

“He’s here with me,’’ she said.

“I feel him in our home. He‘s definitely with me. When I’m not dealing with things very well, I can feel him near me.’’