A 32-year-old woman from Gunnedah in north-central New South Wales has been charged with the murder of her four-year-old son, whom she allegedly killed and partly ate. According to the Daily Mail, she handed herself in at Wyong Police Station on the NSW Central Coast on Saturday and allegedly admitted the killing. The case is deeply distressing and has raised questions about the support and oversight provided to a vulnerable mother with a history of drug problems.

The woman's brother, who is closest to her in age, has spoken publicly for the first time, revealing he had exchanged texts with her only days before the alleged murder and that she "seemed okay". He said the family — including their father and older brother — are now agonising over whether they should have intervened, noting they felt the boy should not have been returned to her after her most recent stint in rehabilitation. Drug counsellors and welfare workers had reportedly arranged for the woman to move to the Wyong home where the death occurred. She cannot be named for legal reasons, and the family, long established in Gunnedah, is said to be reeling.