WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this story contains an image of a person who is deceased.

The mother of an Indigenous teenager who was tragically murdered after being pursued into the bush and severely beaten with a metal rod claims her son endured being hunted for several days and revealed the identities of his attackers before succumbing to his injuries.

Cassius Turvey, a boy belonging to the Noongar Yamatji community, passed away in the hospital 10 days after being “intentionally hit on the head” in the eastern suburbs of Perth on October 13, 2022, sparking outrage across the nation.

Mitchell Colin Forth, 27, who was also on trial in the West Australian Supreme Court for Cassius’ murder, was convicted of manslaughter.

Aleesha Louise Gilmore, 23, was acquitted by the jury of eight men and four women.

Outside the court, Cassius’ mother Mechelle Turvey said her son identified Brearley and Palmer the night he was attacked.

“My son died for absolutely nothing,” she said, with some family and supporters chanting “justice for Cassius”.

“His life was taken. He was hunted down for days … 15 years of age, my son has finally got justice. May he live forever.”

Turvey said it was a “sore point” for her that police did not take a statement from Cassius before he died because of his head injury.

Asked about the verdicts, Turvey said she was “numb with relief” after it was read.

“Justice to me will never be served because I don’t have my son, and he’s not coming back … they can just rot as far as I’m concerned,” she said.

“I’m happy with everything else, three months of hell during this trial, listening to all the amount of lies that have been put forward.”

Turvey thanked her family, supporters, investigators and the 91 witnesses who gave evidence during three-month trial.

“Most of them were young children that are scarred for life and that helped my son on the day,” she said.

“Not like Brodie Palmer saying that he helped me help my son. He did f— all.”

Prosecutor Ben Stanwix told the jury that Brearley delivered the fatal blows while “hunting for kids” because somebody had smashed his car windows.

It was alleged Forth and Palmer aided him, and along with Gilmore, they had a common purpose on the day.

In court, Brearley denied using a pole on Cassius, asserting instead that he only struck him with his fists after the teenager allegedly stabbed him, while he accused Palmer of the assault. Palmer, in defense, rejected the claim, as the men attempted to shift the murder responsibility onto each other during the trial.

Before the fatal attack, Brearley and his co-accused armed themselves with metal poles pulled from shopping trolleys before driving off to search for youths.

About the same time, Cassius and a group of about 20 fellow students caught a bus to the same area to watch a fight being talked about on social media.

Brearley, Forth and Palmer intercepted them near the field and in a series of incidents, Brearley was allegedly slashed with a knife, and another boy was struck in the face with a metal pole.

Cassius and some other “terrified school kids” fled into nearby bushland.

“Cassius didn’t make it as far as the fence when the accused Brearley caught up with him,” Stanwix said.

“He was caught, knocked to the ground and deliberately struck to the head with a metal pole.”

Cassius was struck at least twice, causing bleeding in his brain.

His death shocked the community and the attack was described by some, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, as racially motivated, although Stanwix said this wasn’t the case.

Ethan Robert MacKenzie, 20, also faced trial accused of “snatching two kids off the street”, and unlawfully detained them, punching, kicking and stabbing one of them.

The five defendants variously faced 21 charges over the events of October 9 and 13.

The jury found them guilty of all except Gilmore’s murder charge, and a stealing charge faced by Brearley.

For 24/7 crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).