Alleged hit-and-run: Woman tells of grief after partner killed in carpark

Anna-Marie Taateo says she is struggling to live without her partner Petuna “Tim” Talitimu. Photo / Supplied

The grieving partner of a man who died from an alleged hit–and-run wishes she was the one who had died.

In her first interview since the fatal incident, Anna-Marie Taateo, 26, says she is struggling to live without Petuna “Tim” Talitimu - the love of her life.

“I am living day by day at the moment. I wish it was me that had gone. I don’t feel lucky to be alive. When I am out in public the anxiety kicks in.

“Tim was a softie. He was family-oriented, a great dad who loved his girls and my son. He is the type of person that didn’t have much money but if you asked him to borrow some, he would give you everything he had. He always thought of others before himself,” Taateo said.

On November 23 last year, Talitimu, 36, died instantly after he was allegedly struck by a car.

Tributes were set up in Glen Eden for Petuna "Tim" Talitimu who was killed. Photo / Dean Purcell

Emergency responders were called to the West Auckland suburb of Glen Eden after reports of a dispute in the carpark off Glendale Rd. A vehicle allegedly struck a man, then fled the scene as bystanders tried in vain to help the victim.

Resident Marc Rainbow previously told the Herald he rushed to the man and began performing CPR on him after he heard what had happened.

“It’s all a bit surreal, I just did what I did,” he said, explaining that nurses from nearby Westview Medical Centre also hurried over to help.

But the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

In November, Brayden Andrew Towler, 27, was arrested and charged with murder using a car as a weapon, presenting a firearm, failing to stop and ascertain injury, and threatening to kill or do grievous bodily harm.

Brayden Andrew Towler, accused of murder using a vehicle as a weapon, appears in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / Michael Craig

He appeared at the High Court at Auckland, where his lawyer, Adam Couchman, entered not guilty pleas on his behalf.

Justice Sally Fitzgerald set a trial date for March 2024 and remanded Towler in custody.

But Taateo said that was too long to wait for a trial.

“How can we get on with our lives with that hanging over us?”

Taateo and Talitimu met at church through a family member and had been together for two years.

On the morning of the incident, the couple were planning to have breakfast together on Taateo’s day off from her job as a barista at a local cafe.

Anna-Marie Taateo and her partner Petuna Tim Talitumu, a victim of an alleged hit-and-run on November 23. Photo / Supplied

Taateo said she was finding it hard to forgive the accused driver even though Talitimu’s family wanted her to try.

“I feel incomplete now, like a human walking around with no soul. I can’t stand being at home alone, there are too many things that remind me of Tim.

“I want to eyeball the driver and ask ‘Why?’ Tim was a lovable, gentle soul whose smile lit up a room.”

A friend of Talitimu created a Givealittle page to help support his family in their grief.

“As you can imagine this comes as a huge shock to our friend’s family and those people lucky enough to call him a friend,” the page reads.

Nearly $4000 has been raised so far.