Weymouth toddler death: 2yo Arapera Fia’s primary caregiver pleads guilty to manslaughter

Two-year-old Arapera Fia died on October 31 last year. A Tauranga man has been charged with her murder. Photo / Supplied

A young woman accused of not properly protecting a toddler who was fatally injured while in her care has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, just days before her jury trial was set to begin.

The woman continues to have name suppression but can for the first time be identified as having been the primary caregiver for 26-month-old Arapera Moana Aroha Fia at the time of her death on Halloween night two years ago.

She can also now be identified as the one-time partner of co-defendant Tyson Brown, a 22-year-old Māngere resident who is charged with murder. His trial will begin next week.

The woman sniffled and wiped away tears this afternoon as she stood before Justice David Johnstone in the High Court at Auckland.

“I plead guilty,” was all she said during the brief hearing.

The toddler died at Starship Children’s Hospital on the evening of October 31, 2021, hours after she had been found with critical injuries at a home in Weymouth.

Two-year-old Arapera Fia died on October 31 last year. A Tauranga man has been charged with her murder. Photo / Supplied

Before the arrests two years ago, Counties Manukau police had said Arapera was found with multiple serious injuries that were not considered to be accidental.

Name suppression lapsed for Brown late in 2021.

Justice Johnstone allowed the woman to remain on bail while awaiting sentencing in April, noting that a sentence of imprisonment is not “inevitable”.

Citing a Court of Appeal decision from last year that allowed her name suppression through the end of her trial, he allowed her name to remain unpublished until after she is sentenced.