WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and image of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
Ms Bonner's aunt, Kellie Carter-Bell, said the family was "absolutely crushed and shattered" by the death, describing her niece as a "vibrant, beautiful young girl" who was "fed to the wolves because the system didn't listen". In earlier reporting she described Ms Bonner as a "gentle soul" with a "heart of gold".
"She was a beautiful family girl," Ms Carter-Bell said, adding that Ms Bonner hoped to move back to Queensland to be with "her mob and to work in the community".
"I've heard from her school teachers what a beautiful, vibrant young lady she was," she said.
Emergency services were called to an apartment complex on Cardigan Street in the early hours of Saturday, where Ms Bonner was found dead on the fifth floor. Police said the accused man, who was known to Ms Bonner, turned himself in at a police station before being charged.
The reports differ on when he surrendered: ABC News says he presented himself early on Tuesday morning, while The Guardian reports he handed himself in on Monday. He was expected to appear before Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Wednesday afternoon.
A 60-year-old man arrested shortly after the incident was later released without charge. A memorial has been left outside the apartment block.
Ms Bonner was a Yagera woman with family in Queensland. She lived with Ms Carter-Bell in Melbourne as a young child and attended school in Carlton. Her aunt said Ms Bonner had been in a relationship with a partner 10 years her senior since she was 15.