Saturday August 4, 08:41 AM
No decision yet if murder or manslaughter charges
A post mortem on abused toddler Nia Glassie, who died in Auckland's Starship Hospital yesterday, is expected to take place this morning.
However, police said it was too early to say if murder or manslaughter charges would be laid against any of the five people charged with abusing the three year old.
Nia died at 4.12pm yesterday after her life support system was switched off. She had been in a profound coma since last weekend when she was transferred from Rotorua Hospital with head and abdominal injuries.
Five people, including her step-father were charged with abusing her and were due to appear in court again next week.
She was alleged to have been spun in a tumble drier and hung on a clothesline in the two or three weeks before she was taken to Rotorua Hospital.
However, police also allege one of the people charged, may have abused her over several months.
Police said until the results of today's post mortem were known they could not consider what the next steps were in the inquiry.
Four of the accused appeared in Rotorua District Court on Tuesday. William Curtis, 47, Michael William Curtis, 21, Michael Paul Pearson, 19, and Oriwa Terrina Kemp, 17. No pleas were entered.
A fifth defendant, Wiremu Curtis, 17, was due to appear in Auckland District Court on August 13. Wiremu Curtis was the partner of toddler Nia's 34-year-old mother, the son of William Curtis, brother of Michael Curtis and cousin of Pearson. Kemp is the girlfriend of Michael Curtis.
Te Arawa kaumatua, Toby Curtis, spokesman for the whanau of three of the accused, described Nia's death as "very, very sad".
The whanau would meet Nia's mother's family to express their "inner thoughts and prayers".
Rotorua coroner Dr Wallace Bain immediately launched his own inquiry under the Coroners Act, the New Zealand Herald reported today.
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What absolute ****wits, what this article doesn't tell us is that these people accused actually found it very funny to spin her in a tumble dryer and hang her on a clothes line. She was also seen, according to witnesses, on the roof of a house.
These people should in all honesty be chucked in jail and the key thrown away, what on earth could a three-year-old have done to deserve this? Unbelievable.
No decision yet if murder or manslaughter charges
A post mortem on abused toddler Nia Glassie, who died in Auckland's Starship Hospital yesterday, is expected to take place this morning.
However, police said it was too early to say if murder or manslaughter charges would be laid against any of the five people charged with abusing the three year old.
Nia died at 4.12pm yesterday after her life support system was switched off. She had been in a profound coma since last weekend when she was transferred from Rotorua Hospital with head and abdominal injuries.
Five people, including her step-father were charged with abusing her and were due to appear in court again next week.
She was alleged to have been spun in a tumble drier and hung on a clothesline in the two or three weeks before she was taken to Rotorua Hospital.
However, police also allege one of the people charged, may have abused her over several months.
Police said until the results of today's post mortem were known they could not consider what the next steps were in the inquiry.
Four of the accused appeared in Rotorua District Court on Tuesday. William Curtis, 47, Michael William Curtis, 21, Michael Paul Pearson, 19, and Oriwa Terrina Kemp, 17. No pleas were entered.
A fifth defendant, Wiremu Curtis, 17, was due to appear in Auckland District Court on August 13. Wiremu Curtis was the partner of toddler Nia's 34-year-old mother, the son of William Curtis, brother of Michael Curtis and cousin of Pearson. Kemp is the girlfriend of Michael Curtis.
Te Arawa kaumatua, Toby Curtis, spokesman for the whanau of three of the accused, described Nia's death as "very, very sad".
The whanau would meet Nia's mother's family to express their "inner thoughts and prayers".
Rotorua coroner Dr Wallace Bain immediately launched his own inquiry under the Coroners Act, the New Zealand Herald reported today.
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What absolute ****wits, what this article doesn't tell us is that these people accused actually found it very funny to spin her in a tumble dryer and hang her on a clothes line. She was also seen, according to witnesses, on the roof of a house.
These people should in all honesty be chucked in jail and the key thrown away, what on earth could a three-year-old have done to deserve this? Unbelievable.