KEY POINTS:
A man who was in the back of a car when shots were fired at a Wanganui house, killing a toddler, gave evidence in the High Court at Wellington yesterday.
Two-year-old Jhia Harmony Te Tua died on May 5 last year after shots were fired at her parents' home in the Wanganui suburb of Gonville during a gang-related drive-by shooting.
On trial accused of her murder are Hayden John Wallace, 27, Karl Unuka Check, 26, Ranji Tane Forbes, 21, Godfrey Thomas Muraahi, 27, Erueti Chase Nahona, 20, and Richard Anthony Puohotaua, 28.
Luke John Check, 24, is accused of being an accessory to murder after the fact.
They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Wiremu Karamaina was in the back seat of the lead car in the convoy.
He got in the back seat of the Mitsubishi Galant because he needed a ride home.
Accused Forbes was in the driver's seat of the car and Wallace was in the front passenger seat with a rifle on his lap and the barrel pointing out the open window, Mr Karamaina said.
He said Check approached the car and told Wallace to "shoot them in the head", the Wanganui Chronicle reported.
Mr Karamaina said as the car travelled towards the Te Tua's Puriri St house he did not know what was planned but hoped to prevent anything from happening.
When the car stopped he "went to look around, looking for some patched members, but there were none, so I went to tell Hayden not to shoot, but it was too late."
Mr Karamaina said Wallace leaned out the window and fired two shots at the house and a further six shots in the air.
Mr Karamaina left in the car and got out at his cousin's house.
Under cross-examination, Wallace's lawyer, Paul Mabey QC, asked Mr Karamaina how he intended to prevent anything happening.
"I had to wait for the moment. You can't just say, `Stop, don't shoot'... They wouldn't listen."
Mr Karamaina denied he was the shooter when asked by Mr Mabey.
Forbes' lawyer, Mike Antunovic, asked Mr Karamaina if he thought the gun was just there to scare people and that the carloads were going to Puriri St for a fist-fight.
Mr Karamaina said he didn't know.
He gave evidence via videolink from an undisclosed location.
The trial, set down for five weeks, is in its third week.
- NZPA
