Keti Jovanovska charged with manslaughter of her son after he allegedly starved to death in Yagoona

A mother accused of only feeding her autistic teenage son bread and soda before starving to death has lashed out after being questioned about her allegations.

Keti Jovanovska has been charged with manslaughter of her son Joshua Djuric, 18, after he was found dead last week in an emaciated condition at the family home in Yagoona, southwestern Sydney.

Ms Jovanovska is accused of not providing food, medical care or medicine to her son when his health deteriorated.

The mother was confronted by reporters outside her home on Wednesday, where they were asked if she was okay.

“No,” she replied, quickly getting into her car.

“Have you had a hard time?” asks a reporter.

‘Yes, I’m not allowed to talk. I’m not allowed to talk,’ the mother replied.

The mother returned to her home in Yagoona shortly before noon on Thursday with a bag filled with a few groceries, including an extra pack of strawberry-flavored chewing gum.

“I can’t say anything,” she told Daily Mail Australia repeatedly. “I just want to be left alone.”

A police car drove past the house on Thursday morning and two officers spoke briefly to Mrs. Jovanovska at her front door, not long after she got home.

A neighbor said she was “afraid” of Joshua in the year before the Covid pandemic because of his erratic behavior, but said the Jovanovskas were a “sweet” family.

“Before Covid, he had very bombastic behavior for about 12 months. I was a little scared of him,” she told the Daily Mail Australia.

“I wouldn’t knock on the door because you never knew what mood he would be in.”

She said Mrs Jovanovska, a Macedonian, had moved into the house with her parents and brother 24 years ago.

“They were a beautiful, beautiful family,” she said.

Mrs. Jovanovska’s brother was married and moved to Melbourne, and she moved after marrying a man named Adam.

After Joshua’s birth, Mrs. Jovanovska, who knew neighbor Kathy, moved back in with her husband and the boy.

‘She’s a sweet girl and her husband is sweet too. I can honestly say they were a lovely family,” said the neighbor.

Mrs. Jovanovska’s parents eventually moved in with their son and daughter-in-law, and at one point her husband had also left, leaving the mother and son alone.

“He was a sweet, friendly boy in the beginning,” said the neighbor.

Joshua had gone to the local elementary school and then Bass Hill High, but found school difficult.

“His mother should pick him up because he was playing or being bullied,” the neighbor said.

“He was a big boy who was a little loud and rough.”

Referring to broken windows at the front of the family’s house, she said, “You can tell from the house he got a little stressed as he got older.

“I used to see Kathy at the mailbox and said, ‘How’s Josh?” And she said, ‘He’s fine.’

The neighbor said she hadn’t seen Joshua in the past two and a half years.

“He could have gone out when I left,” she said.

“If you don’t live in the house, you just don’t know.

‘I feel so sorry for him, what a sad life. I feel so sad for her.

“I think she did her best. She’s just a nice person.’

Another neighbor said she understood Ms Jovanovska’s plight and wondered what support she had received.

“To me, it’s just a very sad state of affairs,” she said.

“I don’t understand how someone could fall through the cracks like that. It just shouldn’t happen.

“As far as I’m concerned, no one can judge that woman.”

The neighbor said it would have been hard enough raising a child as a single parent without him having a disability.

“If you don’t get any respite or support, how are you supposed to handle it?” she said.

“The average person raising a child these days is having a hard time, so can you imagine this poor woman?

“I think it’s important that people show some compassion instead of crucifying her or judging her without trying to live her life or put herself in her shoes.

“Unless you’re that person who lives that life, no one will really know.

“She has to live with this as a mother now and that alone is enough for her, along with what she’s been through.”

The neighbor said she didn’t know what help Mrs. Jovanovska had to raise Joshua, but there didn’t seem to be much support.

The neighbor called for understanding as Mrs. Jovanovska goes to court.

“I don’t want her name thrown around like she’s some kind of monster,” she said.

‘She was a very kind woman.

“She did her best with what she had.

“I think in a situation like this it’s about compassion and sympathy. She has lost her son. People need to understand that. In spite of everything else, that was her child.’

The house has several boarded up windows and an old mattress that has been left out in the front.

Police will allege that the 52-year-old woman only gave her son bread and soda despite his deteriorating condition.

Ms Jovanovska sought help from neighbors after finding her son around 10:30 PM on Monday, September 26.

Neighbors called 911 but Joshua was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police claim he died that night between 6:00 PM and 10:40 PM, up to four hours before triple-0 was called, according to court documents filed in her bail application.

Ms Jovanovska was questioned at Bankstown Police Station before being taken to hospital for examination.

She was charged with manslaughter the next morning and appeared in Bankstown court.

Detectives are investigating whether Joshua had any physical or mental conditions that prevented him from taking care of himself.

Ms Jovanovska is due to appear in court again on November 30 and remains on bail under strict conditions.