Baby Boy Akau'ola

Killed by mother Kulukora Kylie Akau'ola. Kulukora, already a mother of two, hid her third pregnancy from her parents. She delivered her baby boy in the bath with the overhead shower running and music playing so her mother downstairs would not hear. Kulukora cut the umbilical cord with a pair of scissors and then wrapping a towel around his head so his cries wouldn't be heard. She then wrapped clothing tightly around his head, so he suffocated, put him in a black bag, and hid him in a cupboard in her room. His body remained there for four days until the father, Christian Afoa, who thought the baby was stillborn, helped her dispose of the body in a makeshift grave in the backyard of her parents Ōtāhūhū home. Source: https://debbiemccauleyauthor.wordpress.com/biographies/new-zealand-....

An Auckland mother concealed the birth of her son from her parents and gave birth alone in the bath before wrapping him in a towel and killing him, a court has been told. Kulukora Kylie Akau'ola had been charged with murder and was due to stand trial at the High Court at Auckland on Monday. However, the 24-year-old pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter this afternoon. The baby's body was found on June 2 last year by police who said someone with 'firsthand knowledge' had tipped them off. According to the Crown summary of facts, Akau'ola hid her pregnancy from her mother and father, with whom she lived in Otahuhu. Text messages between Akau'ola and the father of the baby, Christian Afoa, showed she had wanted to get rid of the baby. On one occasion she told Afoa that she would stab herself or have an abortion. Akau'ola also said she hoped to be able to have the baby at home alone so she could get rid of it without anyone knowing. Afoa offered to look after the baby once it was born. When in labour, Akau'ola told her mother that she had period pains. She went to the upstairs bathroom where she turned on some loud music and turned on the shower over the bath. Akau'ola bent her knees and stood under the shower as she gave birth to the child by herself. The baby cried after being tapped on the back. Akau'ola cut the umbilical chord with some scissors and wrapped a towel tightly around his face to stop him from crying. She then took him to her bedroom where she wrapped in more clothes and hid him in her wardrobe. Minutes after being born, the baby had suffocated to death. Akau'ola sent a text message to Afoa, telling him the baby was stillborn. She also asked him to come and bury the boy. The baby's body stayed hidden in her wardrobe for four days until her family went out. Afoa came over and buried the baby. Akau'ola's lawyer Graeme Newell asked the court to prepare a home detention report. Justice John Priestley said that would be done but warned Akau'ola that it was not a guarantee that would be the final sentence. Akau'ola was remanded on bail until her sentencing next month. Afoa has already pleaded guilty to disposing of the body and was discharged without conviction. Source: https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/mother-pleads-guilty-manslaughter

An Auckland woman who killed her newborn baby and buried him in her back yard four days later has been jailed for two years and six months. Kulukora Akau'ola was originally charged with the boy's murder in June 2011, but pleaded guilty in May to the lesser charge of manslaughter. She was sentenced in the High Court in Auckland on Friday. The child's father, Christian Alofa, was the only one who had known she was pregnant and she told him the baby was stillborn; they buried the body together. Mr Alofa did not find out until after a post-mortem that Akau'ola had killed the baby. A victim impact statement read to the court said he is still struggling with the death, and visits his son's grave each week. Her lawyer argued she was under lot of pressure raising her other children, lacked support and didn't want to bring shame on the family by having another child out of wedlock. Outside court, Detective Inspector Dave Lynch rejected that view, saying Akau'ola knew there were plenty of services available, such as Plunket. Source: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/216549/woman-jailed-for-killing...

---

Kulukora Akau'ola, 24, of Otahuhu, pleaded guilty to manslaughter shortly before she was due to go on trial for murder this year. She was sentenced by Justice Venning in the High Court in Auckland today. He said Akau'ola went into labour on May 26, 2011. She delivered the baby boy in the bath with the shower running and music playing so her mother downstairs would not hear the child. The 22-year-old cut the umbilical cord with a pair of scissors and tightly wrapped a towel around her newborn's head to muffle his screams. The baby died, suffocated, after she wrapped him in clothing, put him in a black bag and hid him in a cupboard in her room. He remained there for four days until the father, Christian Afoa, could help her dispose of the body. Akau'ola was initially charged with assault on a child after the baby's body was found in a makeshift grave in the backyard of an Otahuhu house on June 2, 2011. Police upgraded the charge to murder in August. Afoa last year pleaded guilty to a charge of disposing of the body to conceal its birth. He was discharged without conviction after it was revealed that he believed the baby was stillborn and was only trying to help his girlfriend keep the birth from her parents. At the time, Akau'ola had a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old child to unknown fathers and she was worried she would be kicked out of her parents' house if they knew she was pregnant. Afoa said in his victim impact statement that the death of his baby son was "something that would scar him the rest of his life". Justice Venning said Akau'ola had acted deliberately to stop her baby from crying and she deliberately wrapped his head in clothing. "It was inevitable your baby was going to die by suffocation," he said. He sentenced her to two years and six months in prison. Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/9022072/Mother-jailed-for-ba...