Arapera Moana Aroha Fia, 2, suffered severe injuries that resulted in her death in 2021. Photo / Supplied
Arapera Moana Aroha Fia, 2, suffered severe injuries that resulted in her death in 2021. Photo / Supplied
A day after a man was found guilty of her murder, the family of 2-year-old Arapera Fia will visit her grave to share the news - justice has been served.
“Now that we have answers of her passing, she can rest. It also takes a lot of ease off our shoulders,” a relative, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said.
“I know that her (biological) dad has been carrying this for ages; just wanting answers as to what happened to his baby - as anyone would, really.
“I wanted to go yesterday, but I felt like it just dragged on the whole day, so we’re going to go today and just have some time with her.”
After a two-week trial, Tyson Brown was yesterday found guilty of the toddler’s murder two years after she was rushed to Starship Children’s Hospital in a critical condition on October 31, 2021.
Paramedics who responded to a call-out at a house in Weymouth, South Auckland, found the toddler unresponsive. She had suffered severe injuries and her body was covered in bruises.
Arapera Moana Aroha Fia would succumb to her injuries and be pronounced dead the next day.
Brown had been in and on an off relationship with Arapera’s primary caregiver, who continues to have name suppression as she waits for her own sentencing for manslaughter.
The relative told the Herald it had been a harrowing two weeks for members of the family, who had been asked not to wear any clothing bearing Arapera’s photo.
“We were asked to be quiet.
“Seeing the evidence that the police had, hearing the evidence...I feel like what happened to Arapera should never happen to anyone.”
The family member described sleepless nights - particularly after the first day of the trial - after seeing some of the evidence being presented in court.
Two-year-old Arapera Fia. Photo / Supplied
At times they would sit there crying - and notice that members of the jury were also in tears. At one point, a woman they did not know sitting in the public gallery broke down after a haunting video of Arapera was shown.
The cellphone footage, captured by Brown, showed the little girl looking to the camera. Tears start to form in her eyes as she quietly whimpers.
“You don’t wish that upon any baby. I can tell you now...[she] was one of the most well-behaved children that I’ve ever come across.
“She was an angel...she never cried or anything.”
The relative also revealed they had met Brown’s mother during the trial and shared an emotional moment.
“I met Tyson’s mum at the end of last week and she was beside herself. She couldn’t even sit in the courtroom. She sat in the courtroom for about half an hour to an hour and she walked out and burst into tears.
“And when I was upset, I happened to meet her out in the lobby...and I gave her a big hug. She just kept saying: ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t know’.”
What could’ve been: ‘She would’ve been 4 this year’
The family member wanted to extend a special thank you to the jury members involved in the trial, who they acknowledged would probably forever be impacted.
“All of Arapera’s family just want to thank them for their time - just for everything. Even the Police.
Tyson Brown was charged with murder after the 2021 death of 2-year-old Arapera Fia.
“We all hugged the Police and just thanked them. It doesn’t take a day to try and come up with all the evidence that they did. They worked long hard hours to get the justice that Arapera needed.”
The guilty verdict has brought a sense of closure to them, the relative said. But that did not stop them from imagining an alternative reality in which Arapera was still here, alive, safe and happy.
“She would’ve been 4 this year - oh, she would’ve run amok in my house,” the relative laughed.
