Baby’s death in Auckland: Mother pleads not guilty to murder of infant boy who suffered brain injury

A young mother who was charged with murder one year after the death of her 4-week-old son at Starship appears in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / Jason Oxenham

A young mother has pleaded not guilty to the murder of her 4-week-old son, who died at Starship Hospital one year earlier after suffering a serious brain injury.

Defence lawyer Ian Brookie asked that interim name suppression continue for the 22-year-old defendant, who appeared in person today in the High Court at Auckland for the first time.

Justice Sally Fitzgerald approved the request, which Crown prosecutor Robin McCoubrey did not oppose. The child’s name also remains suppressed, but media can now report that the two are related.

The boy died on January 16, 2022, at which point medical staff alerted police. The woman was arrested on Jan 11, 2023.

In a statement immediately after the arrest, Detective Inspector Scott Beard acknowledged the delay in filing a charge.

“Any baby homicide is a difficult investigation and the police team have worked hard to get to this stage,” he said.

The defendant was also charged last month with assaulting the child when he was two weeks old and when he was four weeks old, and of failing to obtain immediate medical assistance for him. A fifth charge involves the alleged assault of another son during the same time period, when he was 2 years old.

At today’s hearing, Justice Fitzgerald set a trial date for May 2024.