A 32-year-old woman on the NSW Central Coast has been charged with murder after allegedly killing her four-year-old son and eating parts of his body, a case that has drawn national attention because child protection services had reportedly intervened over concerns for the boy but left him in her care. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on Saturday after presenting herself at Wyong Police Station and telling officers she had partially consumed her son. The Daily Mail article centres on an interview with her childhood best friend, who describes her as a "sweet girl" in their country-town years before their friendship ended over a disturbing incident.

The mother and son had moved to Wyong roughly five months earlier to escape domestic violence and largely kept to themselves, though the boy attended local birthday parties. Social services had three interactions with him over concerns about neglect and his mother's suspected drug-induced psychosis but decided not to remove him. The paper also reports that relatives in Armidale and Gunnedah held apprehended violence orders against her, and that she lost an appeal to regain her driver's licence last year. Her childhood friend, given the pseudonym Neveah, recalls their close bond and an unsettling sleepover game of "Titanic" that abruptly ended the friendship.