Charlie Younes found not guilty of murdering disabled stepson
A Sydney stepfather has walked free after a retrial jury found him not guilty of murdering his heavily disabled stepson, who was found dead in the bath.
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A Sydney man accused of murdering his heavily disabled stepson, who was found dead in the bath, has been found not guilty in a retrial.
It comes less than a year after the first jury were unable to decide on whether Charbel “Charlie” Younes was a killer.
Mr Younes was accused of killing 18-year-old Steven Copo-Houghton in 2013.
A NSW Supreme Court jury, in April, failed to reach a verdict after a six week trial.
The retrial was set down for August as Mr Younes was released on $100,000 bail.
At the beginning of his retrial, last month, Steven’s doting mother told the jury she woke to her partner banging on her bedroom door and screaming.
She had been trying to separate from Mr Younes, and told him to leave her home earlier that night, she told the court.
She recounted the harrowing moments her son, who was non-verbal and struggle to move, was pulled from the water unresponsive.
The court heard the frantic triple-0 calls in the moments that followed but Steven could not be saved.
“My disabled boy, he must have crawled into the bathroom while we were asleep,” Rebecca Horton screamed to the emergency dispatcher.
Mr Younes is heard begging for an ambulance before the line cuts out.
A jury found Younes not guilty of murder and he walked free on Friday.
“We’re thankful for the jury’s verdict and hope the family can now begin to heal and remember Steven without the burden of this unjust prosecution casting a shadow over his memory,” his legal team said in a statement.