A woman who plunged 30 metres from an apartment balcony was allegedly heard arguing with her ex-girlfriend moments before she died.
Shuyu Zhou, 23, was found dead on Monday night after falling from the fifth floor of the apartment complex in Zetland in Sydney’s east.
Her former partner Zixi Wang, 29, was arrested in Wollongong on Tuesday and has been charged with her murder.
Ms Zhou is believed to have gone to the apartment around 9pm to retrieve her belongings before an argument ensued.
Shuyu Zhou’s former partner Zixi Wang (pictured) 29, was arrested in Wollongong on Tuesday and has been charged with her murder. It is believed Ms Zhou went to the apartment to retrieve her belongings
Forensic officers on the balcony of a Zetland unit in inner-city Sydney, where a woman plunged to her death on Monday night
Neighbours said they heard intense screaming and arguing between the two women coming from the unit.
‘There was a huge argument from what we could make out, someone was screaming, it was guttural screams and at times sounded like a child crying and being told off,’ neighbour Anastasia Eden told The Daily Telegraph.
‘Next thing I know, there was more screaming and we later looked out of the window and saw a body hanging over the fence and blood on the pavement.’
A woman who had been visiting another resident in the building at the time said it sounded like someone was ‘dying in there’, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Another neighbour said she heard ‘about 10 minutes of intermittent painful screaming’.
‘They were fighting for 10 minutes, it was painful screaming. It sounded like a man and a woman who knew each other,’ the neighbour said.
Ms Zhou fell from the Rose Valley Way block onto a colourbond fence. She died a short time later.
It is understood Ms Wang left the unit block in a white Mercedes Benz belonging to the dead woman in the hours after the incident.
Police issued a public appeal to help locate Ms Wang, with a description of the car she was thought to be driving.
Forensics officers inspect the railings the woman went over before falling to her death
Police officers (pictured) investigating after a suspected murder took place on Monday evening
A member of the public spotted Ms Wang at Sea Cliff Bridge, north of Wollongong, about 3pm on Tuesday and contacted police. She was arrested a short time later.
It was a dog walker named James who spotted Wang. He called 2GB radio to say he had found her.
‘I think I’ve found the car… I’m (at) Sea Cliff Bridge at Wollongong,’ he said on air.
‘She was on the second rail hanging over, I was nearly going to go and grab her but she came down again.
‘I pretended to pat my dog to take the attention away from anything happening in the area.
‘When she moved to the north I followed by 100m behind and when she walked past me I kept a safe distance.’
Property records indicated Ms Wang owned the $1.8million apartment along with another person with the same last name.
She arrived in Australian from Beijing in China and studied at the University of Adealiade before moving to Sydney.
Officers were initially called to the block in the city’s inner-east about 8.45pm on Monday by neighbours who heard 10 minutes of ‘painful screaming’.
The woman’s body was found in a narrow footpath at the back of the building under the unit’s balcony, the force of the impact crushing a solid metal fence.
About 3.30pm on Tuesday the 29-year-old was arrested at the Sea Cliff Bridge, north of Wollongong, where she was found along with the missing car
The woman reportedly suffered other injuries before she went over the metre-high railings
She reportedly suffered other injuries before she went over the metre-high railings.
The two women are believed to have been in a relationship but broke up recently.
Superintendent Hodder said officers were confronted with ‘a horrible scene’ when they responded to the call.
‘Any fall from a building is a tragic sight,’ he said.
Police are not yet sure what Wang was doing at the apartment.
Forensics officers were seen searching the apartment on Tuesday morning while detectives escorted neighbours away to be interviewed.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au.
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