The grieving mum of a teenager killed during a violent brawl between rival youth groups has broken down in tears insisting her son was a ‘good boy’.
Investigations continue into the death of Aguer Akech Lual, 17, near the Keilor Plains railway station at St Albans in Melbourne’s north-west early on Sunday.
He had been living in Adelaide and was in Melbourne to surprise his mother for Christmas before heading to Uganda later this week to attend boarding school.
His family rallied together on Monday to support his shattered mother Martha Mayola, who was rushed to hospital after collapsing when she was told the devastating news on Sunday.
Aguer Akech Lual had his young life cut short on Sunday, leaving behind a devastated family
She and Aguer migrated to Australia five years ago.
‘He was a very good boy… he was not part of a gang,’ Ms Mayola told Nine News.
‘I was shocked… I didn’t know he would die like this.’
Family and friends admitted Aguer previously had brushes with law, but had not been in trouble since joining local sport and church groups.
‘He was a man who wanted to turn his life around,’ community leader Richard Deng said.
A relative added: ‘All of us expected him to do good things in the community.’
They claimed Aguer was the victim of an ambush and had become a target of other South Sudanese youths.
‘He was a very good boy … he was not part of a gang,’ his mother Martha Mayola told Nine
‘The police were saying there are concerns around his safety and unsure if it’s safe to move around,’ Sudanese Community Association in Victoria chairwoman Achol Marial told The Australian.
‘He had to be kept kind of hidden. He was co-operating with police, he may have been giving information that got him into trouble.’
Police refused to comment on whether Aguer was known to police.
Ten males were arrested at the scene and questioned by police but were all later released without charge.
No charges had been laid as of Monday night.
Detectives spent Sunday investigating the scene and speaking to nearby residents
Victoria Police has launched a public appeal into the deadly fight involving up to 30 African males.
It’s understood the two groups had arranged to meet late on Saturday night in relation to a dispute regarding a vehicle.
After meeting at the train station, the groups went to a nearby home in Fox Street where a verbal altercation later took place.
Members from one group – including the victim – were chased back to the train station where a violent altercation involving sticks, fence posts and knives broke out.
Aguer was injured in the brawl and was unable to be revived after collapsing in nearby Regan Street.
Aguer Akech Lual, 17, died at the scene of the fight at St Albans, northwest of Melbourne in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Aguer Akech Lual’s body was found on Regan Street in St Albans early Sunday morning
‘This is a dispute between two groups who are known to each other that has escalated with tragic consequences,’ Homicide Squad detective inspector Tim Day said on Monday.
‘This type of activity… for 20 to 30 young males to be fighting in the street with weapons is of concern to us. It’s really important we solve this as quickly as possible.’
A silver Holden Commodore sedan with the SA number plate, S111 AZI, was taken from a soccer tournament at Green Gully Reserve in Keilor Downs on Saturday evening.
‘This may well have been the catalyst,’ Det Insp Day said.
Males in the second group left in three vehicles from the scene including the silver Holden, which is yet to be found. The two other vehicles have not been identified.
The South Sudanese community are in mourning following the death of the young teen (left)
A friend who was with him on the night he died claimed the car stolen at a soccer match earlier in the day belonged to Aguer.
‘They were coming armed, with like weapons and all that, then I told the guys let run,’ he told The Australian.
‘We didn’t come to fight, we didn’t have anything, we didn’t have anything to fight with… we were not in a gang… They say in the news we are a gang. We just went to a soccer tournament.’
Det Insp Day urged anyone with information or may have CCTV footage, dashcam and nearby residents who may have found ‘foreign objects’ on their properties to come forward.
‘We now have a family and a community in mourning and I have no doubt there are people who were involved in the dispute or have heard accounts, who are yet to speak to police and know what happened,’ he said.
‘There’s no doubt at all that we will get to a stage of identifying most, if not all of the people involved here,’ he said.
‘Members of the community will know who was here and who was actually involved.
‘In the fullness of time we will identify the person who has inflicted the fatal wounds.’
Police are yet to lay any charges in relation to the fatal fight and launched a public appeal