Yolonda Mumbulla death: The tragic baby secret which teenage mum took to her ... trends now
EXCLUSIVE
The grieving father of a teenage mum who died in suspicious circumstances in a squalid unit block has revealed his heartbreak at learning of his secret grandchild.
Young mum Yolonda Mumbulla, 19, was found dead in her North Bondi unit in Sydney's eastern suburbs on Tuesday after her partner Aaron Carey, 32, discovered she was not breathing.
It's now been revealed Ms Mumbulla's baby daughter was not with her mum when she died - and the child's grandfather didn't even know she existed.
Ms Mumbulla managed to keep her pregnancy a secret from her own father, before she gave birth to the child and handed it to her mother, Kylie, in Queensland.
Her shattered father Derek Mumbler told Daily Mail Australia he's still in shock at finding out about his daughter's secret pregnancy.
'She was too scared to tell me,' he said at his home in Sydney's south-west, where he is being supported by friends, Alyah Pera and Lillian Dibb.
'I told her not to get pregnant at 17, it's too young to become a parent. I didn't get the chance to see her and her baby girl together.'
Yolonda Mumbulla (pictured) disguised her pregnancy from her father prior to giving birth in September
Alyah Pera (left) Lillian Dibb (centre) and Derek Mumbler remember their kind-hearted friend and daughter
Childhood friend Alyah said Yolonda and Aaron's daughter, Zara, was born last September but has been in the custody of her grandmother ever since.
'She's had her since birth,' Ms Pera said.
She said Ms Mulumba was able to disguise her pregnancy by wearing loose-fitting clothes throughout 2023.
Despite a troubled history with drugs, her friend said the teenager could have been a model mum.
'She was kind-hearted and she never lost her temper,' she said. 'She would have been a good mum.'
Ms
