The family of Cassius Turvey have attended a Perth court to witness the arraignment of four people charged with murdering the Noongar Yamatji teenager.
Turvey was 15 when he was struck with a metal pole in October last year, dying from his injuries in hospital 10 days later.
Brodie Lee Palmer, 27, Mitchell Colin Forth, 24, Jack Steven James Brearley, 21, and Aleesha Louise Gilmore, 20 have all been charged with murder in relation to the incident.
Appearing before the Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court in Perth on Wednesday, all four entered pleas of 'not guilty' to that charge and various others.
They will appear before the court again at the end of July, at which time a date for their trial will be announced.
Turvey spent five days in hospital after the group of four allegedly set upon him and his friends as they walked home from school.
Just hours after he was sent home, the teenager suffered a seizure and was returned to hospital, where he later died.
Police have detailed that the metal handlebar of a shopping trolley was used in the attack.
WA Police said last year that they believed the attack was an incident of mistaken identity.
, and yet another prompt for reflection on violence visited upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.
Allegations of second incident
Brearley, Forth and Palmer also denied assaulting and stealing a baseball cap and crutches from another teen on the same day as Cassius was allegedly attacked. Gilmore is accused of assaulting the same boy and pleaded not guilty.
Brearley and Forth, and another man named Ethan Robert MacKenzie, 19, are also accused of detaining and wounding another 15-year-old boy in the days before Cassius was attacked.
The teen was allegedly chased down on October 9 and punched, kicked and stabbed before being taken to a house where he was held for a period of time.
Brearley and Forth pleaded not guilty to both charges on Wednesday and Gilmore pleaded not guilty to detaining the boy.
Brearley appeared from Casuarina Prison in Perth's south and Palmer, Forth and MacKenzie appeared from Hakea Prison. Gilmore was in Greenough Regional Prison, about 400km north of Perth.
Brearley was charged in October, before Palmer, Forth, MacKenzie and Gilmore were charged in January.
Brearley, Palmer, Forth and Gilmore were remanded in custody until July 31 for their first appearance in the Supreme Court, when a trial date is expected to be set.
MacKenzie was remanded in custody ahead of a mention on June 21.
Cassius has been remembered as a loving son and a role model to his friends. He had started his own lawn-mowing business and was invited at age 11 to deliver an acknowledgement of country at the WA parliament.
Some members of his family attended court on Wednesday but they declined to speak to media.
