Teen babysitter who killed nine-year-old named

Name suppression for Daniel Cameron, 16, was lifted today. Photo / Luisa Girao

A teenage babysitter who messaged his friends asking "what would you do if I killed someone?" on the night he murdered a nine-year-old Otautau boy has been named.

This afternoon Daniel Cameron, 16, is appearing before Justice Rachel Dunningham and a packed public gallery at Invercargill High Court.

Before his sentence was handed out Justice Dunningham lifted name suppression.

About 50 people were in the public gallery today, including the victim's mother Amy King who was visibly emotional.

King, clutching a yellow-framed picture of her son, Hunter MacIntosh, spoke of the devastating effect the murder has had on her.

She wishes that Cameron could be jailed forever, "as he chose to take away our son, our world".

"My reality is that I barely function. Every minute I try to put one foot in front of the other and that hasn't changed since the moment I laid eyes on my poor dead boy," she told the court.

"My reality is that I was 28 weeks pregnant at the time and the only thing that kept me breathing and eating was our baby."

The trauma of finding her son dead haunts her days and nights, she said.

Last year, Cameron pleaded guilty after King found her son Hunter stabbed on the floor of his bedroom on October 30.

The summary of facts says Cameron was babysitting MacIntosh while his parents where playing pool with the mother and stepfather of the victim.

He had been paid to babysit MacIntosh on at least 10 previous occasions, the document says.

MacIntosh was found with a knife embedded in his stomach and had received wounds to his torso and chest area.

He also had injuries consistent with asphyxia and a moderate head injury.

About 6pm, Cameron's mother dropped him at MacIntosh's home.

About two hours later, he was seen walking down the street.

At 8.20pm, Cameron sent a message to a friend via social media where he wrote: "Help."

Ten minutes later, he sent three other friends a Snapchat message which said: "What would you do if I killed someone."

Name suppression for Daniel Cameron, centre, was lifted today. Photo / Luisa Girao

He also messaged another friend and asked: "What would you think of me if I killed someone" and then "straight-forward answer."

The victim's mother sent a message to Cameron at 10.10pm asking if her son was asleep, but she did not receive a reply.

At 10.30pm, Cameron sent a message to his mother which said "I'm sorry, come get me."

Around that time, Cameron's mother and MacIntosh's mother and stepfather returned to the address in Otautau where King found her son lying on his back on the floor of his bedroom.

Cameron was not at the address.

Emergency services were then called.

Police and medical staff members confirmed MacIntosh was dead after they arrived at the house.

The post mortem suggested the boy had been killed within 90 minutes of being in the care of the youth.

Cameron was seen walking again in Otautau about 11pm. About half an hour later he returned home and was arrested about one hour later, at 12.40am.