Coroner slams evidence, rules shooting death accidental

Rex Martinich | June 26, 2025

A man fatally shot his girlfriend by accident but his mother gave “risible” evidence to protect him, a coroner has found.

Ivona Jovanovic, 27, died on September 8, 2019 at Gold Coast University Hospital as a result of a single gunshot wound to the chest suffered less than two hours before.

She was shot at the Highland Park residence of the mother of her former boyfriend, Christos Panagakos.

Handing down his inquest findings on Thursday, coroner Donald MacKenzie concluded Mr Panagakos caused the death.

“However, on the evidence before me this was essentially an accident,” Mr MacKenzie said. 

“His criminal negligence could not be established to warrant a prosecution for involuntary manslaughter.”

The ex-boyfriend’s mother Michelle Panagakos told police she heard two loud bangs and found Ms Jovanovic in the kitchen at the top of a flight of stairs.

Ms Panagakos told attending officers her son Christos was walking up the stairs at the time and there was a “cowboy-like” handgun at Ms Jovanovic’s feet.

Both Mr Panagakos and the handgun were gone when police arrived.

Mr Panagakos later said he left the home because he did not want to be blamed for the shooting.

He was charged with manslaughter but Mr MacKenzie said prosecutors made an “unremarkable” decision not to proceed with a trial due to a lack of available evidence.

Mr MacKenzie found the “most reliable version” of the shooting was from another man present, Daine Walker, via a written statement made in May 2021 while in a NSW prison.

“Christos was standing at the top of the stairs; I remember him saying ‘I tripped’ and ‘it just went off’,” Mr Walker stated.

“I saw a gun on the floor at the top of the stairs.”

Mr Walker repeatedly testified at a committal hearing that he could not remember giving the statement due to methamphetamine intoxication.

“Clearly, he had been given sound legal advice on how to avoid his statement from being admissible against Mr Panagakos in a criminal trial,” Mr MacKenzie said in his findings.

The coroner found he could easily reject Mr Panagakos’s evidence as he had given inconsistent accounts of the incident.

“Michelle Panagakos’s version of events was risible in many respects also. She was clearly not being full and frank.”

Mr MacKenzie said he could understand her motive in wanting to protect her son.

“Her attempt initially to suggest the deceased herself brought the handgun … and placing Christos at the bottom of the staircase at the time of the firearm discharge was in my view reprehensible,” Mr MacKenzie said.

“She was not a witness of credit”.

Mr MacKenzie said Ms Jovanovic’s death had a devastating impact on her family.

“The lack of clarity about how she died can only have aggravated that grief,” he said.

The coroner said the inquest could be reopened if further relevant evidence came to light.