On Saturday May 25 Courtney Herron’s mother Maxie was making plans to fly Brisbane to see Ahmet Ozturk, Courtney’s ex-boyfriend, who was set to have surgery to his shoulder.
Courtney Herron’s body was in Royal Park at 9.15am that day, with police describing her death as having caused been a "particularly horrendous attack". Her accused killer has been charged with her murder and will face trial this year.
Ahmet didn’t hear of Courtney’s death until Monday May 27. Ahmet hadn’t told Maxie that his surgery took place on the Monday, as he didn’t want her to travel such a long way for him. After the operation, he rang Maxie to tell her he was ok. Maxie answered his call crying and broke the terrible news.
Courtney and Ahmet had been together for two years before Ahmet’s visa expired, he missed an interview with immigration authorities while he was caring for Courtney and was sent to the Maribyrnong Detention Centre in 2017.
A man arrives to lay a bouquet of flowers at the site where Courtney Herron's body was found in Royal Park, Melbourne. Source: AAP
The pair separated seven months after he entered detention, with Courtney feeling deep guilt for his detention, but Ahmet remained in contact with her, and her mother Maxie, who continues to help Ahmet navigate the immigration system.
“Ahmet loved Courtney very much,” Maxie tells SBS Turkish. “He cared for her. They loved each other. His visa expired and he missed his interview with the department because he was too busy picking up or saving Courtney.”
Courtney and Ahmet’s relationship was tumultuous. Courtney had serious mental health issues and problems with addiction that sent her in and out of psychiatric clinics and rehabilitation centres. Maxie says Ahmet was trying hard to help her get clean, and it took its toll on him.
“While I was trying to save her, I also got involved in this drug thing and developed mental problems,” Ahmet tells SBS Turkish from an immigration detention centre in Brisbane. “I was admitted to hospital and got clean.”
Courtney had moved in with Ahmet just a short time after they met and they both ended up living in Courtney’s family home, before moving in with a mutual friend.
“I was trying to pull her out from that world, cut her contacts with dealers,” says Ahmet. “She was really trying to stop drug use. She started to study. She started working. Everything was fine for a while.”
Maxie says the couple were even planning to get married, but everything changed when Ahmet was detained, and from there Courtney began to slip through the cracks. Ahmet says a system that left her on months-long waiting lists failed to provide the help she needed.
Coutney Herron Source: Supplied
“She was hospitalised a couple of times,” Ahmet says. “She had accommodation problems. She couldn’t get the help she needed. I personally witnessed that she couldn’t get it. Every time she was in hospital, I was talking to her. She was ringing me. She was in hospital for three to four weeks every time.
“They were looking for accommodation for her. She was trying to get treatment for the drug dependency, but she had to be on waiting lists for months. She couldn’t get help and she ended up homeless.”
Maxie was often trying to help and find Courtney during this period, and she remained in close touch with Ahmet. When Maxie hadn’t heard from Courtney for a while, Ahmet would try to find her from inside the detention centre, ringing people and messaging friends on social media.
“It was too much for a man in detention,” says Maxie. “My concern was Ahmet was doing too much for Courtney. I told him so many times, ‘Ahmet, this is not good for your health’.”
Ahmet and Courtney’s former flatmate, Mehmet Canpolat tells SBS Turkish he thinks Ahmet is an “angel without wings.”
Mehmet Canpolat and Ahmet Ozturk Source: Supplied
“Courtney and Ahmet lived with me for two years,” he says. “They were very much in love. They were always together. There were times they wouldn’t leave house for a week. When I realised Courtney had a drug problem, we went out for dinner and I spoke to her. She was really trying hard to get clean.”
In a macabre coincidence, in 2014 Ahmet had played a lead role in a short anti-drug film in 2014. In the film he plays a Kurdish man who tries to help an Australian girl struggling to deal with addiction.
“The role became reality in his life the following year,” Mehmet says.
Maxie is still fighting for Ahmet’s release from immigration detention and says she has paid his legal expenses, and written to Ministers, ombudsmen and human rights officials.
“He did many things for the Kurdish community,” she says of Ahmet. “He organised an Australia Day Kurdish community picnic to celebrate Australia. He organised a Kurdish soccer team. He gave back. He was never a burden. I asked for Ministerial intervention” she says and adds while crying, “I will continue to fight for Ahmet’s release. Because it was the wish of my child.”
Ahmet says he is still hoping that there has been a mix up in Courtney's identity, and that the body found in Royal Park is not hers. “I am still waiting for her phone call,” he says.
Courtney Herron will be buried beside her grandfather's grave in Melbourne's Fawkner Cemetery on Monday.
A silent vigil will be held on the evening of Friday May 31 at Royal Park in memory of Courtney Herron.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800respect.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.
Readers/Listeners seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged 5 to 25). More information about mental health is available at Beyond Blue.
