The woman accused of burning alive an entire family while they slept in their home has pleaded not guilty to their murders.
Abbey Forrest, 19, Inda Sohal, 28, and their baby daughter Ivy had no chance of escaping the raging inferno that claimed their lives last December.
The family were killed in the blaze at Point Cook in Melbourne south-west in the early hours of the morning.
Jenny Hayes, 46, was arrested in December and charged with three counts of murder
The bodies of Abbey Forrest, 19, Inda Sohal, 25, and their baby daughter Ivy (pictured together) were found inside a Point Cook townhouse after a blaze tore through the property
Police tape remains across the gutted remains of the Point Cook property where three people died in December
On Monday, their alleged killer Jenny Hayes pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and related arson offences.
The 46-year old appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court via videolink from Dame Phyliss Frost Centre.
A clearly distressed Hayes sobbed throughout the short hearing, placing her head down on the table in front of her.
The alleged killer could barely utter her pleas of not guilty through her tears.
Hayes will now front the Supreme Court of Victoria next month in anticipation of a trial sometime later this year.
Hayes was arrested the morning after the alleged killings amid claims she had an argument with a house guest of the family.
The exact allegations put against Hayes by police remain a mystery as the presiding magistrate refused to grant public access to court documents.
At the time of the fire, the Herald Sun reported police were investigating whether it was in fact an alleged fight over sexual services that led to the fatal fire.
The newspaper alleged a dispute broke out over sexual services which were to be provided by Hayes before she returned and set the house on fire.
Police later confirmed Hayes did not know the family she has been charged with murdering.
Abbey Forrest, 19, Inda Sohal, 25, and their baby daughter Ivy had no chance of escaping the inferno amid allegations the only exit had been torched
Jenny Hayes, 46, was arrested and charged with three counts of murder
Shattered friends and family attended the Point Cook property for days after the tragedy
Detectives will allege Hayes used an accelerant to douse the stairwell of the Point Cook home before setting it alight.
A source has told Daily Mail Australia that just hours earlier a 28-year old male and close friend of Mr Sohal had allegedly kicked her out of the property before heading out for the night.
He was not even home when police allege Hayes got into the home and set her deadly trap.
‘They had no chance of escape. They were trapped,’ the source said.
It is the first time Hayes has appeared in court over the allegations she is a killer.
In December, Hayes declined to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court and was remanded in custody.
Her lawyer Erin Byrt told told Magistrate Luisa Bazzini at the time she didn’t know her client’s connection to the young family.
The court also heard Hayes was on pain medication for arthritis and restless leg syndrome and her state in prison was ‘poor’.
Emily Forrest visited the scene of the fatal house fire on Friday morning to lay flowers and a toy outside the remains of the home (Pictured left to right: Abbey Forrest, her sister Emily Forrest and their parents)
Neighbours had tried to rescue the family, but the family perished in the house fire
The death of the young family sent shockwaves across the nation in the lead-up to Christmas last year.
Mum and baby were farewelled at St Mary of the Angels Basilica in Geelong, south of Melbourne just days before Christmas.
Baby Ivy would have been just three weeks and not even have a chance to be baptised before her life was so cruelly cut short.
Her grandfather Alan Forrest – Abbey’s father – bravely paid tribute to the pair.
He choked back tears as he spoke of the fun loving and generous Tomboy his daughter was.
Mr Forrest said his family would not get a chance to gather at his daughter’s 21st birthday and he would not be able to provide a speech as father of the bride.
‘She won’t make it to her 21st birthday speech, or her father of the bride speech. So this is one speech that I must take the honour of Abbey, Ivy and Indi.’
The shattered parent described his daughter’s love of horses and her hopes of one day becoming a paramedic.
‘She was a generous kid,’ he said. ‘She was always grateful to and respected all of her teachers.’
Tributes poured in for the deceased family with Ms Forrest’s (left) sister Emily (right)
She laid a Peppa Pig stuffed toy at the house in tribute of baby Ivy who was just two days away from turning three-weeks old