Ivona Jovanovic: Ex-boyfriend Christos Panagakos to be examined at new inquiry into influencer’s death

The bodybuilding ex-boyfriend of a Gold Coast influencer who was fatally shot dead at a home in 2019 is set to be examined at a new inquiry.

Christos Panagakos is set to be examined at a new inquiry into the death of Gold Coast influencer Ivona Jovanovic.

The ex-boyfriend of a Gold Coast woman fatally shot inside his mother’s house more than five years ago will face further questions over her death during a fresh inquiry next month, after the manslaughter case against him was abandoned.

A coronial inquest will scrutinise the circumstances surrounding the death of 27-year-old Gold Coast influencer Ivona Jovanovic inside the Renfrew Avenue home in the Gold Coast suburb of Highland Park on the night of September 8, 2019.

But during a pre-inquest hearing on Wednesday, coroner Donald MacKenzie warned the inquiry will not be used as “an attempt to fix up a discontinued prosecution”, but he did say the new probe would include evidence previously used against Christos Panagakos.

Gold Coast influencer Ivana Jovanovic died in 2019. Picture: Contributed

The 32-year-old bodybuilder, who previously had ties to the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang, had the manslaughter charge against him dropped in March last year.

Mr Panagakos has always denied the allegations.

The pre-inquest hearing heard that police and paramedics rushed to the Gold Coast home that day after Michelle Panagakos made the triple-zero call around 8.30pm reporting “her son’s friend” had been shot.

Mrs Panagakos also told the triple-zero operator that “someone was carrying a bag that had been dropped”.

Paramedics found Ms Jovanovic critically injured and rushed her to Gold Coast University Hospital, where she was declared dead around 9.40pm.

Loved ones at the funeral service for Ivona Jovanovic at Integrity Funerals, Parkwood. Picture: File

An autopsy found she had been shot in the left side of her chest, damaging her liver and collapsing her lung, causing blood to fill her chest cavity.

Mr Panagakos returned to his mother’s street around 1.30am the next day and was questioned by detectives.

Kim Bryson, counsel assisting the coroner, told the pre-inquest hearing that he provided “limited details” about the incident.

Mr Panagakos told police that he and a number of his friends had gone out for dinner, but he did not disclose the name of his friends or exactly what his friends’ plans had been.

Ms Bryson told the Brisbane Coroner’s Court on Wednesday that Mr Panagakos told detectives that he was on the lower level of his mother’s home that night, while Ms Jovanovic and all of the other people present were upstairs.

Mr Panagakos said he heard a loud bang, walked upstairs to investigate, and found Ms Jovanovic laying on the ground unresponsive.

Mr Panagakos told police that he saw a gun on the floor next to Ms Jovanovic and he described it as “a handgun with a long barrel”.

The gun involved has never been recovered, and Mr Panagakos has not given police any information regarding its location, the pre-inquest hearing was told.

Mr Panagakos then left before police and paramedics arrived because “he didn’t want to be blamed for what occurred”, Ms Bryson told the pre-inquest hearing.

Christos Panagakos is set to face a fresh examination into Ivana’s death. Picture: Contributed

Ms Bryson said the police investigation that followed was “extensive”. Some people interviewed were cooperative and provided statements, other persons of interest were not cooperative and refused to give statements.

Mr Panagakos was charged with Ms Jovanovic’s manslaughter 16 months after her death and the court case proceeded to a committal hearing in Southport Magistrates Court.

Following the hearing, which concluded in late August 2022, the Director of Public Prosecutions Office decided not to proceed with an indictment to a higher court because DPP believed it “did not have a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction”.

Ms Bryson said evidence and depositions from the abandoned criminal case would be included in next month’s inquest.

On Wednesday, Coroner Donald MacKenzie raised concerns over whether Mr Panagakos had a lawyer and was aware of the kind of evidence he could be presented with when he is called as a witness during the inquest.

“This is an inquest into the cause of death and not an attempt to fix up a discontinued prosecution,” he said.

“For that reason, I do not want it to be seen that Christos Panagakos is being targeted for his arguable role, whatever that may be found to be, in this death.

“We had been informed that a lawyer was going to act for him, but we have heard nothing from them. We are very concerned about natural justice being afforded to Mr Panagakos.”

The inquest is due to run for three days during the week of November 18. Sixteen witnesses will be called - including Mr Panagakos and his mother.

Originally published as Ivona Jovanovic: Ex-boyfriend Christos Panagakos to be examined at new inquiry into influencer’s death