Findings released into inquest into death of Michelle Foster after being killed by mentally unwell Jayden Lowah at Noarlunga Centre

The mother of a woman who was killed by a mentally ill stranger has pleaded for changes in the system to protect other families, as a coroner has released her findings.

The mother of a woman who was beaten to death by a mentally ill man has pleaded for changes, saying several of the killer’s red flags fell on deaf ears.

Jayden Tanee Lowah was found not guilty of the murder of Michelle Foster outside the Colonnades Shopping Centre on October 24, 2018 – just 41 days after his release from prison – by reason of mental incompetence. He was ordered to serve a period of indefinite mental health supervision.

As the inquest findings revealed recommendations for changes in the prison and health systems, Ms Foster’s mother, Andrea Foster also made an impassioned plea outside court.

“From the age of 14 the offender Jayden Lowah has slipped through the cracks of the mental health system with inadequate support and follow up care until this day,” she said.

“Red flags were raised on multiple occasions in regards to his state of mind but fell on deaf ears.

“With the increase of murders caused by people suffering from mental health issues there needs to be a better system in place to keep our community safe.”

Andrea Foster, mother of Michelle Foster, gives a statement to media outside the Coroners Court. Picture: Dean Martin

Michelle Foster, who was found murdered at Colonnades Shopping Centre. Picture: Facebook

During the inquest in 2022, counsel assisting the coroner Peter Longson said the inquest would examine Lowah’s release from custody on September 14, 2018, after he served a 12-month jail term for separate assaults against strangers.

“This inquest will examine how it came to be that Lowah, aged 20, suffering schizophrenia, who had repeatedly demonstrated whilst in custody his inability to act in his own best interests, with a history of random acts of violence against members of the public, was released from Yatala Labour Prison … into homelessness,” he said.

About 2.30am the next day, Lowah called for an ambulance because he was feeling homicidal.

At hospital, Lowah told a psychiatric registrar that he would “probably kill someone”, but did not have a particular target in mind.

He also complained to the registrar that he had been released from prison into homelessness.

Staff deemed he was seeking “secondary gain”, or accommodation, and sent him back to the emergency department with no active intervention.

Mr Lowah was released and went to stay with his father at Goolwa, where he remained until October 24.

On October 22, a mental health service nurse contacted Lowah and arranged to give him antipsychotic medication, but after organising a script, discovered it was not in stock at the local pharmacy until the next day.

Lowah received his first Centrelink payment at 3pm on October 24 and bought a bus ticket to travel to Noarlunga, arriving about 7.20pm. He then bought a six-pack of pre-mixed bourbon cans.

He killed Ms Foster, who was a stranger, in a brutal attack later that night.

The Supreme Court previously heard Lowah was suffering delusions and believed killing Ms Foster would free him from “mind control” and reunite him with his “original parents” on another planet.

In her published findings, Deputy State Coroner Naomi Kereru said while Ms Foster’s death was “not preventable”, there were multiple missed opportunities to address Lowah’s mental health.

She recommended the Attorney-General consider broadening the definition of ‘high risk offender’ to include an additional category for offenders who have been identified as an unacceptable risk to the community, such as those with a chronic mental health illness who display violent behaviours, like Lowah.

Ms Kereru also recommended better communication and access to information between the Department for Corrections and prison health staff to assist with the mental health and psychiatric assessment of prisoners.

Andrea Foster, mother of Michelle Foster gives a statement outside Coroners Court pleading for changes in the health and prison systems. Picture: Dean Martin

Outside court, Ms Foster said the loss of Michelle, a mother-of-two, was a life sentence for her and her family.

“Please please do something and help somebody else, they don’t need to go through what we went through,” she said.

“I’ll never forgive him (Lowah) for what he did but I can understand that he was turned away.

“There’s no winning here, not for him, not for me and definitely not for my daughter.”

Originally published as Findings released into inquest into death of Michelle Foster after being killed by mentally unwell Jayden Lowah at Noarlunga Centre