Kye Conlon charged with manslaughter, drug supply after Rachel Ayuso found dead in Oak Flats

A man charged with supplying heroin to an Illawarra mother who died from an overdose has denied having that particular drug in his possession on the night in question.

Illawarra mum Rachel Ayuso was found dead at a home in Oak Flats after a heroin overdose.

A man charged with supplying heroin to an Illawarra mother who died from an overdose has denied having that particular drug in his possession on the night in question.

Kye Conlon was arrested on Wednesday at Stockland Shellharbour and charged with drug supply and the manslaughter of 28-year-old Rachel Ayuso who was found dead at a home in Oak Flats on July 13, 2022.

The arrest comes after Brayden Hamilton, the 28-year-old who lived at the home in Oak Flats, was charged with Ms Ayuso’s manslaughter earlier this month.

Ms Ayuso died after snorting lines of the heroin with a group of friends following a night out at a local pub.

It is alleged after consuming the substance, she was taken to Hamilton’s home at Oak Flats in the southern Illawarra.

Kye Conlon is charged with manslaughter. Picture: Facebook

Sometime between 2am and 11am that morning, Ms Ayuso, a mother of two, died as Hamilton slept in the home.

Emergency services were called to the scene just after midday, following reports the woman was unresponsive.

Conlon, 27, applied for bail in Wollongong Local Court on Thursday where his solicitor Graeme Morrison argued the case against his client was “not strong”.

Illawarra mum Rachel Ayuso was 28. Picture: Facebook

“Looking at the [police] facts, [it says] we supplied heroin, we completely deny that and we deny using it on the night,” Mr Morrison said.

“We know the deceased was taken to the co-accused’s and passed away in that home. We were not present when [the death] occurred.”

Mr Morrison submitted the prosecution case was relying on whether or not Conlon helped attain medical attention for Ms Ayuso.

The case will return to Wollongong Local Court in January.

The veteran legal practitioner told the court there was “no evidence” Conlon had heroin, submitting the allegation of drug use in a car park was “more in line with using cocaine than heroin”.

Mr Morrison also highlighted Conlon had been at large for more than two years since the death and did not try to flee the area even after Hamilton was charged earlier this month.

The NSW Police prosecutor denied the case was weak, submitting Conlon “picked up the deceased by the shoulders” before he “struggles with her body and lays it back on the ground” without going on to access medical attention for her.

The prosecutor noted the charge was manslaughter, rather than murder, which made it “not a weak case”.

Magistrate Gabriel Fleming denied the bail application, telling the court the information before her did amount to a strong case.

Ms Fleming said there was CCTV putting the accused there and noted Conlon had a “lengthy” criminal record.

Hamilton, who the court on Thursday heard did not have a criminal record, was granted bail by Magistrate Claire Girotto on the condition he report daily to police and not go within 500m of any international point of departure.

Following Ms Ayuso’s death, friends described her as a “beautiful soul” and an “adoring mum” who “gained her angel wings too early”.

The case will return to court in January.

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