KEY POINTS:
The mother of murdered Wanganui toddler Jhia Te Tua broke down in court today as she described the moment she realised her daughter had been killed by a bullet from a drive by shooting.
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, are on trial in the High Court in Wellington for the two-year-old's murder.
Luke John Check, 24, is charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact.
They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges that stemmed from a shooting at the toddler's Puriri Street house in the Wanganui suburb of Gonville on May 5, 2007.
Grant Burston, appearing for the Crown, said yesterday Jhia was hit by a bullet, fired by Wallace from a high-powered rifle .
Mr Burston said the shooting came after a day of gang tensions between the Black Power, of which Jhia's father was a member, and their rival gang the Mongrel Mob.
Jhia's mother, Ria Gardiner, told the court that earlier in the day Mongrel Mob members had driven outside the house she shared with Jhia and her partner, a Black Power associate, shouting the Mob slogan "Sieg f***ing heil".
That evening, about 9pm, the Mob members returned in their cars, which were pelted with bricks, stones and rocks by Black Power - breaking the windscreen of one of them.
She identified senior patched Mob member Karl Check as being in one of the vehicles that was being attacked.
After that confrontation Ms Gardiner said she rearranged the furniture in the lounge to put Jhia to sleep as Jhia's bed was level to the window in her own room and she did not think Jhia would be safe.
She told the court that just before 10pm she received a phone call from her friend who told her three cars had just silently pulled up outside her home.
"It raised the alarm for me."
Ms Gardiner said she had meant to put Jhia on a mattress on the floor rather than leave her on the couch, but was distracted by the news of the cars and was trying to attract the attention of her partner and his friends who were outside.
Shots were fired and Ms Gardiner said she dived onto the floor and pulled Jhia off the couch.
"When I was holding her it felt like she was going to the toilet on me. Thick liquid was just pouring out of her."
Ms Gardiner said she continued holding Jhia until the shots stopped and her partner returned inside.
It was then she realised the liquid was Jhia's blood.
Crown lawyer Grant Burston asked Ms Gardiner if Jhia was alive at that stage.
Through tears, Ms Gardiner said she could see her daughter was dead.
Under cross examination, the lawyer for Karl Check, Greg King, asked Ms Gardiner how many Black Power associates were at her place that evening.
She replied there would have been more than six.
Also giving evidence today was forensic pathologist John Rutherford.
He told the court Jhia died from a bullet wound that entered the top of her chest on the right side and exited at the bottom left hand side of her back.
Dr Rutherford said her injuries were so great she would have survived just a "matter of seconds" after the shooting.
Forbes, Muraahi, Nahona, Puohotaua and Wallace are also facing a charge of being part of an organised criminal group.
Karl Check, Muraahi, Nahona and Wallace also face an assault charge.
The Crown plans to call about 120 witnesses during the trial in front of six men and women and is expected to last about five weeks.
- NZPA
