A coroner has found that Christos Panagakos was responsible for the 2019 shooting death of his former partner, Ivona Jovanovic, at his Highland Park home on the Gold Coast.
According to ABC News, the 27-year-old was fatally wounded in the chest when a handgun discharged from inside a bag Panagakos was carrying as he tripped on a staircase.
The weapon was removed from the scene and never recovered.
Despite initially denying having a gun and claiming memory loss due to drug use, Coroner Donald MacKenzie said Panagakos’ version of events could “easily be rejected” and relied instead on a police statement from a witness at the scene, calling it the “most cogent and reliable” evidence.
Panagakos was charged with manslaughter in 2021, but the case was later dropped.
While Coroner MacKenzie concluded the shooting was “essentially an accident” and did not meet the threshold for criminal negligence, he held Panagakos responsible.
The coroner also criticised several witnesses, including Panagakos’ mother, for giving misleading evidence.
He acknowledged the profound impact of Jovanovic’s death on her loved ones, saying, “Her death has had a devastating and lasting impact on her family and those close to her.”
Source: ABC.
