'Friendly' 3-year-old dies in hospital, 2 charged with assault

A 3-year-old boy who died after an alleged assault loved playing with a neighbour's children, pushing them round on their bikes.

When he was rushed from his Otara home on Tuesday afternoon, wheeled down the right-of-way by ambulance staff, the neighbour thought he had fallen out of a tree.

She saw intravenous tubes coming from his body and he appeared to have an injury to his side.

The boy was taken to Starship Hospital, where he died yesterday morning.

He cannot be named as it would identify two people charged with assaulting him.

The 31-year-old woman and 26-year-old man are facing one charge of assault but police say further charges will follow.

The pair, from Otara, appeared in the Manukau District Court separately.

They were given interim name suppression and remanded in custody.

Detective Senior Sergeant Richard Middleton said the boy suffered multiple injuries and more than one weapon was involved, although police were yet to establish what they were.

"It's a very sad case for everyone involved," he said.

The cause of death is likely to be released today.

Police cordoned off the house where neighbours said the boy lived with his mother, her partner and an older brother, aged about 8 or 9.

A spokeswoman for Child, Youth and family, which is helping with the investigations, said the department had no history of involvement with the family.

A neighbour with two young children who played with the boy said that the family moved into the house six or seven months ago.

The woman, who did not want to be named, did not know if the man at the house was the boy's biological father.

The 3-year-old became friends with her children, aged 1 and 2, and liked to play with them in the driveway, she said.

"He's friendly, always saying hello. If the kids were going [too far] down the driveway he would bring them back."

The boy pushed her children round on their bikes but he did not have one of his own.

The woman said she noticed a bruise on the side of the boy's face when he came round to play a few days ago.

Police told the neighbour the boy had died.

"It's sad. He's only a little baby."