James Patira Murray was 12 years old when he died by suspected suicide.
James Patira Murray was 12 years old when he died by suspected suicide.
A four-week coroner’s inquest is under way in Whangārei into the suspected suicides of six youths in 2018 and 2020.
Hamuera Ellis-Erihe, 16, of Raumanga, died in 2018. He loved dancing, rapping and singing.
Summer Mills-Metcalf, 14, of Kaipara, died in 2018. She was described as a happy, smiling girl who enjoyed pulling pranks on family members.
Ataria Heta, 16, of Moerewa, died in 2020. She was a stand-out kapa haka performer with a kind nature.
Maaia Reremoana Marshall, 13, of Kaitāia, died in 2018 after being under the care of Oranga Tamariki.
WARNING: This article discusses suicide and may be upsetting to some readers.
A mother who lost eight family members to suicide, five within six months of each other, was faced with yet another devastating blow when her 12-year-old son chose the same route.
“There was something going on but he just wouldn’t speak about it,” James Anthony Patira Murray’s mother, Sidina Patira, told the coroner at an inquest in Whangārei.
The hearing is looking into the deaths of five Northland young people in 2018 and one in 2020. They were all aged between 12 and 16 and are believed to have taken their own lives.
Coroner Tania Tetitaha has heard evidence from whānau members, Oranga Tamariki officials, school principals and health officials in the hopes of finding impediments to suicide prevention services and solutions to ensure further deaths don’t occur.
“At the end of this inquest, there will be a finding that all these rangatahi died by suicide,” she told the court at the beginning of the inquest.
Patira told the court her son was a good boy who wasn’t shy of work.
“He was good at sport and liked tackling and throwing, he made it into the Northland rep team.
“It was a proud, proud moment for James and his family,” she said.
James’ separated parents had a strained relationship and communication between the two was almost non-existent. He moved between his parents’ homes but for the most part lived with his father in a small, overcrowded house with at least 10 people.
“The family dynamics when James was alive weren’t the best ... I knew others in the house were running James down and I hated it,” Patira said.
Information between the parents was seldom shared and Patira said she often found out what her son was up to through his siblings.
“He was a bit lost and I heard stories he was walking around the streets looking sad. He would often be accused of stealing, people called him a low-life. He wanted to change how people saw him,” she said.
James was also struggling at school, was taking drugs and had been wagging.
“He was doing dumb things at school but no one looked into why he was doing these things. He was made to feel like a nobody.
“There was something going on but he just wouldn’t speak about it.”
The suspected suicides of Northland teenagers Ataria Heta, Summer Mills-Metcalf, Hamuera Ellis-Erihe and James Murray are under inquiry in a coroner's court in Whangārei.
Patira attempted to have her son enrolled on an Army-style course but he didn’t want to go and eventually Rubicon, a youth mentoring programme, was brought on to assist.
On September 21, 2018, Oranga Tamariki received a report of concern that James was self-harming. On November 4, after recently being expelled from school, he died of suspected suicide.
Patira said she initially had support from social workers but they fell away. She told the court her son needed someone to talk to.
“James needed a go-to person, a mediator, someone in the middle to help when a young person is getting pulled like that. A lot of the time they [counsellors] just talk your head off and don’t really hear you.
“You need someone who is available and is invested in you, someone who is really listening. A problem shared is a problem halved.”
Patira also held the view that services that were engaged with her son, such as Oranga Tamariki, could have helped with the housing situation.
“If that had been the case that would have been one less thing for James to deal with. With so many people living in one block and James being blamed for everything it shouldn’t have been like that, it could have been better.”
James Murray, 12, was described as "a beautiful human being" by his mother at the coronial hearing.
Every year, Patira releases lanterns to acknowledge the years passed. This year will be six lanterns.
“At the end of the day we all wish we could have gotten the answers beforehand so that this never happened,” Patira said.
Coroner Tetitaha acknowledged Patira’s strength and commitment to participating in the hearing and had a final mihi to her that was delivered in te reo.
“It makes me sad to hear about James but on another level, it gives us a basis to look forward and to think about ways in which people like James can, to some extent, get assistance and hopefully prevent these deaths from happening again.”
The coroner is expected to release her findings into the deaths of Hamuera Ellis-Erihe, Summer Mills-Metcalf, Ataria Heta, Maaia Marshall, Martin Loeffen-Romagnoli and James Patira Murray in early 2025.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
