Courtney Herron's devastated mother looked to the sky to plead to "be happy baby" as mourners stood in the rain to remember her slain daughter in a Melbourne park.
Maxie Herron stood among hundreds of strangers and family gathered at a silent vigil on Friday night at the site where her 25-year-old homeless daughter was found dead.
"She is not crying, she is watching down. She is at peace. She is in the arms of her papou saying 'it's okay Mum I've shed my tears'," Ms Herron told the crowd through tears.
Ms Herron thanked those gathered and said her daughter had held back the rain back to allow her to speak.
"This outpouring of love is unexpected. My baby in life thought people didn't care, and that people were staring at her. But she is in heaven watching down, saying 'I am loved'," she said.
Just as she stopped speaking, rain poured down.
Ms Herron's grandmother, Connie, earlier held the photo of the slain woman perched at the makeshift memorial in Royal Park before repeatedly kissing her image, and crying.
It was the same site that dog walkers found Ms Herron's body last Saturday morning.
Ms Herron is the fourth young woman to be killed in a public Melbourne place in the past 12 months, including the June rape and murder of aspiring comedian Eurydice Dixon, 22, in a neighbouring suburb.
Vigil co-organiser Jessamy Gleeson called for political action to stop the deaths.
"It's not that Melbourne has a problem, it's that Australia has a problem and a lot of places have a problem," she told reporters.
"The message I want politicians to hear is that we are tired of doing these vigils, and there needs to be a big structural change in how we address violence against women."
Catriona, 30, came to remember Ms Herron and all women killed at the hands of men.
"We are a strong city and that we can come together and support one another through grief and through life," she said.
Another woman Lia Tabrah came to show respect and raise awareness about homelessness, violence against women and mental health.
Homeless man Henry Richard Hammond, 27, has been charged with Ms Herron's murder. He has faced court and remains in custody.
It's reported Hammond and Ms Herron may have left a party together just hours before her death.
An online fundraising appeal set up by the Melbourne Homeless Collective to help pay for Ms Herron's funeral has raised more than $13,000.
