The mother of a university student killed in a suspected mistaken identity gang shooting has revealed the emotional toll of her son's death.
Marco Tapia, 23, was shot dead in his family home in southwest Sydney's quiet Glen Alpine estate on September 1.
Two men, Vaifaalie Tuafuti, 22, and Omar Mohamed, 23, along with a 16-year-old boy – all previously extradited from Victoria to NSW – were on Tuesday charged with Tapia's murder and a string of other offences.
Tapia's mother Claudia said although the family welcomed charges, every development in the case reminded them their son was dead.
She described her son as "not simply a victim", but a warm, caring and loving biomedical engineering student.
He was a committed Christian, a youth leader, volunteer and martial artist.
"We want people to know who Marco was beyond the circumstances of his death," she said in a statement.
"Marco had plans. He had purpose. He had a future, and he was already making a difference in the lives of others."
Police allege the trio collected a criminal contract and forced their way into Tapia's home while covered head-to-toe in dark clothing, armed with a handgun and crowbar, Detective Superintendent Joe Doueihi said.
''At this particular stage, we are not alleging any particular male pulled the trigger,'' the homicide squad commander told reporters on Wednesday.
Further investigations would attempt to uncover who fired a shot, he said.
Doueihi said none of the trio were co-operating with police.
Asked if it was ''case closed'' for Tapia, Doueihi said police had arrested everyone they were looking for but would continue to probe underworld links.
''We are still looking into the upper echelons of who facilitated this and who organised it," he said.
The trio hailed from Victoria and were known to police in the state for a combination of minor offences before extradition to NSW over unrelated offences, Doueihi revealed.
Police allege they picked up an interstate criminal "contract", possibly commissioned from overseas.
Their full charges constituted murder, two counts of special aggravated break and enter, committing a serious indictable offence with a weapon and possessing an unauthorised prohibited firearm.
Neither of the charged men applied for bail on Wednesday afternoon.
They will remain behind bars before their cases return to Wagga Wagga Local Court in November.
The 16-year-old was also due to face a children's court on Wednesday.
It's believed Tapia was not the intended target of the botched alleged assassination – the first of two alleged hits in as many days.
Detectives alleged they had identified the intended target and Douehi confirmed the person lived on Tapia's street in Glen Alpine.
On September 16, two boys aged 14 and 16 were arrested and charged over their alleged roles in the murder.
Authorities allege they were involved in the preparation and clean-up of the killing, but were still charged with murder for allegedly playing a role in a joint criminal enterprise.
They will remain behind bars until they next face a children's court on November 13.
The bloodshed in early September sparked public and political outrage, with criminal activity claiming at least five innocent lives in recent times.
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