1987 deaths of Indigenous teenagers Mona Lisa Smith and Jacinta "Cindy" Smith were impacted by racism in the initial police investigation.
A coroner has found that racism impacted the initial investigation into the deaths of two Indigenous teenagers, Mona Lisa Smith and Jacinta "Cindy" Smith, in 1987. The teens died when the car they were in, driven by a non-Indigenous man, rolled on the Mitchell Highway, between Bourke and Enngonia in outback NSW. The driver provided alcohol to the girls before taking them onto the highway. The coroner's inquiry concluded that the police investigation at the time was "wholly and inexplicably deficient," and partly attributed this to racial bias.
April 23, 2024
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