Qantas will pay tribute to flight attendant Luke Davies on Mardi Gras float after his alleged murder

Qantas will honour the life of flight attendant Luke Davies in a touching tribute at the upcoming Mardi Gras parade.

Qantas will pay tribute to their late flight attendant Luke Davies at the Sydney Gay and Mardi Gras parade.

Mr Davies, 29 and his partner TV presenter Jesse Baird, 26, were allegedly murdered at a Paddington sharehouse by Senior Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon on February 19.

The 29-year-old would likely have marched in this Saturday’s Mardi Gras parade had his life not been cut so tragically short two weeks ago.

Qantas, Mr Davies’ former employer, will pay tribute on its parade float in honour of the former staffer.

It is understood his name will be placed on the front of the float.

Luke Davies (left) and Jesse Baird (right) were allegedly murdered at a Paddington home. Picture: Instagram

Fellow cabin crew Brooke Walters spoke glowingly of Mr Davies who she worked with on a flight from Sydney to Singapore three weeks ago.

She told The Sydney Morning Herald he spent the entire eight hour flight comforting a passenger who was suffering from dementia and consoling his worried wife.

“Luke took it upon himself to care for them constantly,” Ms Walters said.

In an emotional television interview on Friday morning, his long-time friend Dean Bailey, revealed the final messages he received from Mr Davies minutes before he was allegedly murdered.

Qantas will pay tribute to Mr Davies on their Mardi Gras float. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

“We’d always send funny Instagram memes back and forth to each other, and I received one at 9.18am the morning of the incident,” Mr Bailey told Sunrise.

“It was a funny meme, followed by a crying laughter emoji, which is pretty much what Luke was like. You could picture him physically laughing as he sent that message.”

“To know that within 30 minutes after that, things took a turn for the worse and the unimaginable happened. It’s heartbreaking to think what went on (after the message)”.

Joel McCoy, another friend of Mr Davies, told the breakfast TV show he found it hard to process the revelation his friend had not been the intended victim.

“I think it was really upsetting to hear that he kinda wasn’t actually meant to be there when it all unfolded,” he said.

Mr Davies friends have shared his final texts before alleged murder. Picture: Instagram

Police believe Mr Davies was not the intended target of the alleged murder. Picture: Instagram

In an interview with Nine News, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said police would allege Mr Baird was Lamarre-Condon’s sole intended target.

“We will be strongly claiming in our case this murder was premeditated and the second murder occurred because of, unfortunately, Luke’s presence at the house,” he said.

The LGBTQIA+ community were rocked by the young couple’s alleged murder, just two weeks before one of the biggest events in the queer pride calendar.

It was an especially heartbreaking experience for the queer community, who come together each March to honour the thousands who walked the streets of Sydney in 1978 in celebration of their sexual identities and freedom.

The event is remembered as one of the most violent police responses in the city’s history in which dozens were arrested and many brutally assaulted inside their jail cells.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb at the 2023 Sydney Mardi Gras Parade. Picture: Supplied

The fact that Senior Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon, the man accused of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies’s murders, is a serving police officer, prompted calls for the NSW police force to pull out of the parade as a show of respect to the queer community.

However after the Police Commissioner refused to answer their calls, the force was formally uninvited by event organisers.

It stirred up a mix of reactions, with a number of politicians and the Commissioner expressing their disappointment with the decision.

After lengthy discussions between the police force and event organisers, the decision was overturned and officers were given approval to march in the parade, so long as they were not in uniform.