Influencer Was Killed — Gun Discharged When Ex-Boyfriend Tripped, Inquest Finds 

Australian influencer Ivona Jovanovic was shot in her ex’s home — he fled the scene, and she died hours later.

Now, six years later, a coroner says her death was a tragic accident, that there was no evidence of criminal intent and not enough evidence to prove criminal negligence — one of which is required to charge someone with manslaughter in Australia.

The shooting happened on Sept. 8, 2019, as Jovanovic, 27, her ex Christos Panagakos, and several friends were getting ready to leave for dinner from his house, according to 9News, 7News and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 

When police arrived at the home, neither Panagakos nor the gun were in the home, according to the outlets. The firearm was never found, and Panagakos later told police he left the home because he did not want to be blamed for the shooting, per the outlets. 

His mother, Michelle Panagakos, had summoned police.

She initially told them she heard two loud bangs, according to the outlets, and found Jovanovic in the kitchen at the top of a flight of stairs. 

Panagakos’ mother said her son was walking up the stairs at the time, and that there was a “cowboy-like” gun at Jovanovic’s feet, suggesting that she had brought the gun to the home herself — an account that coroner Donald MacKenzie said was “risible” when delivering his findings on the case Thursday, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“Ms. Ivona Jovanovic was killed by Mr. Christos Panagakos when a handgun discharged from inside a bag he was carrying when he tripped on a staircase facing her,” Mackenzie said, per the outlet.

Panagakos was charged with manslaughter in the case in 2021. Before the charges against him were dropped, he told a court that he did not remember much of the evening because had taken methamphetamines the night of Jovanovic’s death, according to the outlet.

But he was adamant he didn’t have a gun in his possession. 

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Mackenzie said, according to the outlet, the “most reliable” piece of evidence in the case was a statement given by one of Panagakos’ friends who was present that evening. 

“Christos was standing at the top of the stairs; I remember him saying ‘I tripped’ and ‘it just went off’,” Daine Walker wrote in a statement. “I saw a gun on the floor at the top of the stairs.”

Later, Walker repeatedly testified that he could not remember giving the earlier statement, because he was also under the influence of methamphetamine when he wrote it, per the outlet.

“Clearly, he had been given sound legal advice on how to avoid his statement from being admissible against Mr. Panagakos in a criminal trial,” MacKenzie alleged in his findings, cited by 9News.

Although Mackenzie found that Panagakos was responsible for causing Jovanovic’s death, he determined that it was “essentially an accident,” per the outlet.

“In terms of the Criminal Code, his criminal negligence could not be established to warrant a prosecution for involuntary manslaughter,” he said. “Considering the evidence… I cannot make any meaningful recommendations.”

However, Mackenzie said the inquest could be reopened if new evidence comes to light.

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