A devoted father and “upstanding member of the community” who was bashed to death on his regular morning walk is believed to be the victim of a random attack.

Father-of-six Quang My Pham was out walking before dawn when he was attacked and left for dead in the south-west Sydney suburb of Yennora on Saturday.

Police allege Corum Anthony Ash, 45, assaulted the older man at 4.35am and left him on the street where he was found and treated by paramedics.

Superintendent Craig Middleton said investigators had identified Ash as the likely suspect in Pham’s death by Saturday evening but couldn’t find him down until Monday night.

Two members of the community helped identify him and then provided police with crucial information on his whereabouts, leading to his subsequent arrest, he said.

“We managed to track him down to a location (in Carlingford) and we executed a search warrant at the address at 2pm Sunday afternoon,” Middleton said.

“By 8pm last night we had a community member who contacted us and told us he had returned to that location.”

Investigators were not able to speak with Pham before he died in hospital on Monday.

He was surrounded by family, including his wife who had been overseas when the attack happened, Middleton said.

“This is a real tragedy for the family involved … an upstanding member of the community, going about his morning daily walk.

“He’s a husband, a father to six children, and at the moment they’re dealing with an enormous amount of grief.”

Police believe Ash travelled the 15 kilometres from Carlingford to Yennora by public transport and that Pham was not specifically targeted, Middleton said.

“We believe it was a random attack,” he said.

“This poor man was going about his morning walk, which I believe he does every morning, and he was set upon quite viciously and powerfully.”

Items such as clothing believed to be linked to the attack were allegedly seized from the Carlingford property where Ash was eventually arrested, police said.

He was not required to appear before Parramatta Local Court when his case was initially mentioned on Tuesday morning and adjourned for a possible further mention on Wednesday.

No plea is required at this early stage.

–AAP