A 17-year-old boy has briefly faced court accused of murdering a young woman during a weekend Melbourne party.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, held his head in his hands at times during the brief filing hearing on Tuesday, during which he was supported by his mother and brothers.
Laa Chol, 19, died after she was reportedly stabbed at a party she attended at the EQ Tower in Melbourne about 5.15am on Saturday.
The Sunshine North boy was charged on Monday.
Images of Laa Chol. Source: Instagram
The children's court was told that prosecutors required a "lengthy period" to prepare a brief of evidence in the case, including 50 hours of CCTV footage, statements from a large number of witnesses, and downloaded data from mobile phones.
The teenager was remanded in custody, with lawyers linked to the case due to return to court on August 14.
Commander Stuart Bateson earlier told 3AW on Monday the young woman's death had nothing to do with Sudanese gang violence, as had been suggested by some politicians.
Police investigate a crime scene at the EQ Arcade building on A'Beckett Street in Melbourne, Saturday, July 21, 2018. Source: AAP
"When we start to make an issue that is bigger than what it is and when we start to racialise and we start to target this specific community, that leads to some unintended consequences," he said.
"That means a whole community feels vilified. They often feel frightened to go out in public in groups, they're shouted out."
Premier Daniel Andrews told ABC radio Ms Chol's family "deserve fundamentally better than what they've been given over these past 12 or 24
