A couple has appeared in court charged with murdering prominent Adelaide doctor Michael Yung in an alleged home invasion.
Kerem Aydin, 22, and Jacinta Davila, 27, were arrested on Tuesday night following a high-level investigation by detectives into the attack on Yung – a senior pediatrician – at his Gilberton home early on Monday morning.
Yung, 61, died surrounded by family at the Royal Adelaide hospital on Tuesday afternoon after the alleged home invasion.
The pair faced Adelaide magistrates court via video link on Wednesday charged with murder, aggravated serious criminal trespass and committing theft using force.
Magistrate Michael Jandy heard the couple were linked to the crime scene by DNA evidence found at Yung’s Gilberton home.
The court heard Davila’s DNA was found on a headtorch at the suspected entry point, adjacent to a fly screen that had been sliced open, while Aydin was linked to blood stains at the scene.
CCTV footage showed two people outside the house at the time of the attack, but the quality of the footage was not strong enough to positively identify them on its own, Jandy heard.
Yung was heard asking the defendants how they got into the house before loud noises and a scream, the prosecutor alleged.
The rear door was smashed and the victim was found nearby suffering head and spinal injuries.
The court heard the pair was arrested outside a shopping centre after they had attempted to shoplift a first aid kit from a Chemist Warehouse to patch up Aydin’s injuries, allegedly sustained during the break-in.
Glass fragments were found on shoes at the defendants’ home, while blood-stained clothing was recovered from a washing machine, the prosecutor said.
Aydin, sporting a bandage over a bruised and swollen left eye, did not apply for bail.
Davila, who sobbed throughout her appearance, will return to court next week when Jandy will consider releasing her on home detention bail.
The prosecution opposed her bail, arguing the alleged offending was serious in nature, the case against her was a strong one and she was a risk of tampering with evidence.
While there was a relatively strong case that Davila had tampered with evidence by attempting to wash blood from their clothing, there was an obvious question mark surrounding the strength of evidence attaching her to the crime scene at the time, Jandy said.
He acknowledged her DNA was found at the crime scene, but he said there was the potential for secondary transfer from her to the crime scene via Aydin.
“Absent of any other evidence putting this defendant at the scene of the crime at the time, the case will remain possibly equivocal in relation to her,” Jandy said.
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The pair are due back in court for a charge determination hearing in March.
Tributes had flowed for Yung, who was head of the Women’s and Children’s hospital’s pediatric intensive care medical unit.
“This is an absolute tragedy,” the SA premier, Peter Malinauskas, said on X.
The health minister, Chris Picton, said it was an incredibly sad time for the state’s health family.
“Dr Michael Yung has been there for so many South Australian children and families at their darkest times – now it is time for all of us to be there for him and his family,” he wrote on X.
The Women’s and Children’s Health Network acting chief executive, Rebecca Graham, in a note to staff said Yung would be greatly missed by the families he had supported.
Instead of flowers, she urged people to donate to the Kathryn Browne-Yung Scholarship fund Yung set up in his late wife’s honour.
“We thank our colleagues at the Royal Adelaide hospital for providing our valued colleague with such compassionate care but sadly his injuries were too great,” Graham said.
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