Cody Edwards (pictured), 25, has been charged over the alleged murder of Synamin Bell at her home in Millicent in south-east SA on Saturday night
The man accused of murdering a young mother-of-three at her home has been identified as her new boyfriend.
South Australian police found the body of Synamin Bell, 26, at her home in Millicent, in south-east South Australia, after police were called to the property just after 11pm on Saturday.
Detectives arrested 25-year-old Cody Edwards at the scene after he called police himself. The couple are understood to have recently begun their relationship.
In a picture taken in the past few weeks, Edwards smiled as he embraced Ms Bell, wearing thick-framed black glasses with his long hair tied behind his head.
Ms Bell’s neighbour said she saw Ms Bell sitting on her front steps with another woman in the hours before her death.
Ms Bell was due to start studying a medical course as she looked to help treat her immuno-compromised daughter.
The young mother (right) was found dead in her South Australian home on Saturday night after officers were called to the property just after 11pm
‘Synamin had dreams of giving her kids the life and opportunities that we all hope our children have before them,’ a friend wrote on a GoFundMe to pay for funeral costs.
‘She had goals of getting into medicine to help (her daughter) in her struggles and to help give her the best chance at a full life.
‘She was trying her hardest with limited resources and support, trying to be the best mum she could be.’
An elderly neighbour of Ms Bell said she saw her sitting with a friend at the doorstep of her Poole Street flat about 7pm and went to bed close to 11pm.
‘We didn’t hear anything,’ she told The Advertiser.
Ms Bell (pictured) was allegedly murdered at her home in Millicent, south-east of Adelaide, SA on Saturday evening
Edwards is understood to have walked across the road to tell a work colleague to call police after Ms Bell’s death
‘The first we knew about it was when we opened up our shutters at half past seven this morning and saw police cars and people everywhere.
‘When the police detective came to interview me today he told me the children were at their nanna’s when everything happened.’
Forensic officers attended the home through Sunday and Monday as they investigate the circumstances of her death.
Edwards was taken by police to Mount Gambier Police Station where he will remain in custody until he appears in Mount Gambier Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
He is understood to have walked across the road to tell a work colleague to call police after Ms Bell’s death.
Police have been combing through the home for several days after the body of the 26-year-old was found dead on Saturday night
Superintendent Campbell Hill described the alleged murder as ‘tragic’ and confirmed the children were not at the house at the time of their mother’s death.
‘It is devastating and it is shocking,’ he said. ‘It is a tragic circumstance which will reverberate and has reverberated across the community.
‘If people have information, if they know how these two people knew each other, we urge them to contact us so we can fill that knowledge gap.
‘They were known to each other but exactly what the dynamic of the relationship was is something we are working to establish.’
Friends and family of the loving young mum remembered Ms Bell as a devoted parent.
‘Synamin was loved by all and those lucky enough to have known her were blessed by her generosity and loyalty,’ friend Luke McGaughey wrote.
‘No matter what may have been happening in her own life, she was never unavailable.’
Ms Bell was remembered as a ‘loving mother’ who was looking to move into a career in healthcare to help support her kids
A friend said the 26-year-old was studying healthcare to help care for her children.
‘The loss of your mother is something from which you never fully recover, but losing her so young leaves these beautiful kids with so much life to walk through without her,’ they said.
‘Your mother is your first and forever friend, you never truly get over that loss.
‘I’m heartbroken, devastated and in shock. I was only just speaking to you the day you were taken,’ another friend wrote. ‘Synamin Bell I love you forever hun, this lifetime and next.’
Police are expected to stay at the Poole Street home for several days for a thorough forensic investigation.
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