Hastings: Police bus deployed in Javon Aranui murder investigation

Police at the scene of the fatal assault of Javon Aranui, inset, on Jellicoe St in Hastings. Photo / Paul Taylor

Police have made a fresh appeal for information in the homicide investigation of Hastings father Javon Aranui, who was the victim of a “callous assault” just before Christmas.

A community police bus will be parked outside Splash Planet on Tuesday morning and the public is asked to head along if they have information that could help the investigation (between 9am and 11am).

Javon Jesse Aranui, 24, was assaulted and left with serious head injuries about 3am on Wednesday, December 20 on Jellicoe St in the Hastings suburb of Mayfair - just a few streets away from Splash Planet.

He died the next day in hospital.

Police tape was visible around a driveway on Jellicoe St after the assault.

Aranui is the son of the late Annabell Tumanako, who went missing from Napier in 2007 in what has become one of Hawke’s Bay’s most high-profile cold cases.

Tumanako’s body was never found and police believe her disappearance was the result of foul play.

Her family are now dealing with a second unsolved murder case as police hunt for Aranui’s killer .

“Hawke’s Bay police are wanting to hear from anyone who may have information regarding the assault that took place in Jellicoe St,” police said, in a statement released on Monday.

“Javon Aranui was callously assaulted in the early hours of the morning and died as a result of his injuries.

“Help us get justice for Javon.”

The police community bus will be out at Splash Planet on Tuesday as part of the ongoing investigation. Photo / Police

As well as the community police bus, the public can also provide information by calling police on 105 and reference file number 231220/1498.

Information can also be provided anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Aranui’s grandfather Tiopira “Joe” Tumanako told Hawke’s Bay Today earlier this month that his grandson’s death had been hard on the family.

He said he was the kind of person who always wore a smile and was willing to lend a hand.

“He always had that smile on his face and was always laughing. He was a happy-go-lucky person.”

Napier's Annabell Tumanako before she went missing in 2007.

His grandfather urged anyone with information to contact police.

“Somebody out there knows. It would be good if someone could come forward,” he said. “Anything will help.”

Aranui was a father to one child and worked in horticulture.

A death notice for Aranui stated he was a “loved cousin, nephew and friend to many” who will be “forever loved and forever missed by his extended family and all who knew him”.