A teenager who died in bizarre circumstances at a luxury five-star Sydney hotel was living in supervised state care at the time, it can be revealed.
Tyler Mason plunged to his death from the 35th floor of the Meriton Suites in Parramatta on the night of March 14, in what police are treating as a suicide – a conclusion his family says makes “no sense”.
A news.com.au investigation drawing together extensive details from multiple sources, comprising audio recordings, vision, text and instant messages, has pieced together a strange timeline of events.
We can reveal claims there was a panicked attempt to reach the 15-year-old’s monitored residential facility hours before he died.
Tyler had been living at a Big Brown House refuge in Sydney’s western suburbs for some months when his mother died in late February in a single vehicle car accident.
Big Brown House was meant to be a safe haven, but Tyler’s devastated family have raised questions about the adequacy of procedures in place.
“[The kids] say there [was an attempt] to ring [the facility] to come and get him,” his aunt Jo-Ellen Hall, a mental health nurse, told news.com.au. “He was frightened and wanted to leave.”
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For several hours before his death, Tyler was in a room at the Meriton Suites on George Street with five others; all but one of them underage and none accompanied by responsible adults.
The gathering was to celebrate a girl’s 16th birthday. A man aged 18, also in attendance, had booked the hotel room on her behalf.
News.com.au understands things spun wildly out of control, with a knife brandished, the bathroom door kicked in, and at least one instance of physical violence.
Bizarrely, despite credible indications Tyler consumed just three drinks over about five hours, he became extremely ill, unable to walk or talk.
It’s understood one of the girls in the room says she tried to make contact with Big Brown House between 7pm and 8pm but was unsuccessful. The purpose of the contact was to arrange for someone to pick Tyler up because he was scared and sick, it has been suggested.
“He couldn’t move,” a teenager who was in the room has said.
“If you showed up there, he wouldn’t know who you was. That’s how f***ed up his mind was.”
Another said Tyler was “freaking out really badly”. He had vomited, lost control of his bladder, and was “frothing at the mouth”.
The boy lost consciousness on multiple occasions, news.com.au’s investigation has established.
At 11.28pm, Tyler fell from the room’s balcony. He was found naked and deceased by paramedics shortly after midnight.
It’s understood Big Brown House management accepts the police conclusion that Tyler took his own life.
Management at Big Brown House phoned police after 9pm to report Tyler missing when he failed to return at curfew, news.com.au has established.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice, which has oversight of care matters, said: “The DCJ is deeply saddened by the death of a young person at Parramatta on the evening of March 14, 2024. We offer his family and loved ones our sincere condolences.
“For privacy reasons, DCJ cannot comment further on specific child protection matters.”
Ms Hall acknowledged Tyler had some anger issues and was known to police.
Tyler had been reported missing at least twice in the past; once in November 2022 and again in March 2023.
She feels he was getting his life back on track and felt optimistic about the future. He had plans to meet up with friends on March 15, the day after his death.
“His mum’s death obviously hit him hard, but he was more angry than anything,” Ms Hall said.
“I sat him down and we spoke for a long time about how he was going. I asked him – I said, ‘you’re not going to do anything silly?’ and he was clear, he said, ‘no, only weak people commit suicide’ and that he wasn’t thinking like that.
“I didn’t think he was a suicide risk. He was angry, yes. He wasn’t depressed though. He had gone back to school. He was talking about wanting to be a carpenter, about wanting to make his mum proud.”
NSW Police has refused to comment. It’s understood investigators consider the matter an act of self-harm and are preparing a report for the coroner.
Big Brown House did not respond to requests for comment. A detailed list of questions about the night in question and its policies and procedures was sent to the organisation.
Ms Hall said she was “horrified” after learning of the claims that her beloved nephew had wanted to be picked up and was seemingly “very scared”.
A teenager in the room also told family Tyler tried to leave the suite but was blocked at the front door. When asked why, the teen said they were worried he would start a fight.
“Why they’ve said he was barely conscious and couldn’t walk,” Ms Hall said. “It doesn’t make sense. None of it makes sense.
“His friends told [Tyler’s family] that he was sick, unable to walk … basically non-responsive, even foaming at the mouth. How does someone go from so intoxicated they are unconscious to being able to climb over a balcony railing and jump in an hour? It just doesn’t make sense.”
Over the course of the evening, it’s understood Tyler had vomited, lost control of his bladder, and was “frothing at the mouth”.
Each time Tyler tried to stand, he would collapse to his feet. He was unable to speak, it has been claimed.
It’s understood he was carried into the bathroom at some point, stripped off, and placed in a warm shower. He was shivering uncontrollably.
His soiled red tracksuit was “washed”, it has been claimed.
A discussion was had about calling an ambulance, but a teenager present was subject to a night-time curfew as a condition of bail.