Friends will pay their last respects to a mum found dead in her Kingston home when they gather for her cremation service this week.

Filipino carer Che Cruz, 37, suffered fatal head injuries in her house in Cambridge Road on Monday, September 26.

Friends will gather for a Catholic cremation service at Kingston Crematorium on Thursday morning at 11am then meet at a nearby church hall for a celebration of her life.

But her parents, brother Roberto and two-year-old daughter will not be there to say goodbye to Che, the second of the family to die in tragic circumstances.

Her brother was lost at sea 10 years ago.

Friend Abigail Pickering, whose cousin married Roberto Cruz, said: “We were far too upset but we couldn’t do anything about it anymore.

“It is so hard knowing that her brother was lost 10 years ago and now it is her and she’s the only girl in the family.

“It was difficult for them [her parents]. We were on the phone constantly trying to tell them what was going on.

“We can’t take her back home anymore because of the investigation. Her body was only released two weeks ago.

“We want her to rest in peace. It is like ‘why can this happen?’ My thoughts are for her to rest in peace.”

Her devastated brother Roberto, who lived in Kingston but moved to Australia, returned to the UK for two weeks after his sister’s death, but has since flown back home to be with his wife and children.

Her parents, who live in the Philippines, were told of her death, but have not been able to come to England.

Mrs Pickering said flowers and contributions were welcome at the funeral.

Ms Cruz’s partner Muhammed Asad Niazi, 29, is due to appear at the Old Bailey in January for a plea and case management hearing charged with murdering her by hitting her 40 times with a hammer.