Juanita Coco
Juanita Suzanne Coco was an Australian child singer and variety performer who was a regular on the talent and variety television show, Young Talent Time. She appeared from 1987 to 1988, from the age of 11 to 13. Coco was often paired with Joey Dee for duets. She had replaced Vanessa Windsor on the show and was the 35th member to join. After the show's demise, Coco worked with a professional cover band on a regular basis until her final year of high school. She then formed a young band, Milk, who were working on original songs and about to start performing at the time of her death in 1993.
Death
On 2 May 1993, Juanita Coco attended her boyfriend, Scott Tiedgen's, 20th birthday party in North Melbourne. At the end of the evening, she got into a Subaru wagon driven by a female friend of another guest, accompanied by Tiedgen, and his friend, Brad Lacey, 21 years old, and two other friends.As the vehicle travelled through Malvern, it ran a red traffic light and was broadsided by another vehicle. Sitting in the back seat, Coco and Lacey were killed instantly due to the force of the impact. The driver survived with no injuries and Tiedgen survived with serious injuries. Coco was 17 when she died. A subsequent investigation found that the driver of the Subaru was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident; manslaughter charges were later dropped in court.