A Hastings man accused of killing a baby boy went on trial today.
Trent Owen Ngaruhe Hapuku, 22, pleaded not guilty in the High Court in Napier to the manslaughter of five-month-old Mikara Reti on January 11.
The court was told that Mikara lived with his mother Jamie Reti, two-year-old brother, and Hapuku in a sleepout behind a house in suburban Flaxmere.
Mikara was happy and healthy when Ms Reti left him with Hapuku but when she returned an hour later he was unresponsive.
He was taken to Hawke's Bay Hospital where he was found to have stopped breathing.
