Two women being looked into for the death of a 7-Eleven customer who passed away after being soaked in hot coffee are facing charges

Charges have been laid against two women who were under investigation for their involvement in an incident at a service station, during which a customer passed away after being reportedly splashed with scalding hot coffee and physically attacked. 

Andrea Madigan and Sarah Franklin, both 52 years old at the time, were set to appear in court the previous year on accusations of reckless behavior leading to severe harm following the occurrence on February 8 at a 7-Eleven outlet located in Caulfield, situated in the south-eastern part of Melbourne. 

It was disclosed by Daily Mail Australia that these charges were dismissed and settled on May 5 of that same year, anticipating a potential elevation by the Victoria Police to charges of manslaughter.

It can now be revealed Homicide Squad detectives have charged both women with assault, with a court date yet to be set. 

Both had remained free in the community while forensic experts worked to figure out just how their alleged victim died. 

The forensic investigation was finalised in February – more than a year after the woman died. 

The alleged offenders have been summonsed to appear at Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court in June.

A police spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia an autopsy was unable to determine the woman’s cause of death. 

Madigan and Franklin had faced potential manslaughter charges had there been sufficient evidence to suggest the woman died as a result of the alleged attack. 

The woman had been taken to hospital with life threatening injuries where she died six days later.

Detectives from Moorabbin Crime Investigation Unit initially charged the two Caulfield women with assault before handing it over to the Homicide Squad when the victim died.  

The victim, whose identity remains unknown, had allegedly been attacked in full view of CCTV cameras within the service station.  

A police source said the victim’s body had been riddled with serious health complications, which more than likely caused her death. 

Daily Mail Australia was told the victim had become abusive moments before she was allegedly doused in hot coffee and assaulted by Madigan and Franklin.  

‘She was being racist,’ a source told Daily Mail Australia at the time. 

Shop owners along Hawthorn Rd, where the 7-Eleven is positioned, claimed all three of the Caulfield women were well known to each other. 

One witness described the ‘assault’ alleged against Madigan and Franklin as more like a ‘scuffle’. 

Both of the alleged offenders had a clean criminal history until the deadly scuffle. 

They were charged by Victoria Police detectives that night and released on bail from the watch house despite the victim’s status being listed as critical.  

Those that claimed to know both of the accused described them as being ‘kind and courteous’. 

‘They’re nice. They’re polite. We see them all the time. They behave, they have nice manners,’ one woman said. 

Others expressed dismay at suggestions the alleged fight might have been sparked by racial slurs. 

Caulfield is known for its large Jewish community, representing about half of Melbourne’s Jewish population. 

‘I don’t think it (the alleged offence) had any connection to race or culture,’ a local shopkeeper said. 

Recklessly causing serious injury charges in Victoria carry a maximum jail sentence of 15 years compared to 20 years for manslaughter. 

Witnesses have told police a woman poured coffee over the victim and assaulted her before fleeing the scene on Hawthorn Road.