Jaelyn Ariki Ngatai Maxwell

The youngster was admitted to Starship Hospital on December 11, the eve of his sixth birthday, suffering from head injuries. He later died on the 18th. Jaelyn's mother's partner, Mansell Dwayne Burns 23, had been charged with his murder. Mansell is now deceased. Source: 4theKids

Jaelyn died of brain injuries. His de facto father, Mansell Burns, was charged with murder but killed himself before the trial. Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/faces-of-innocents/82249793/faces-...

• Mansell Dwayne Burns, 23, a labourer from Otara, is charged with murdering Jaelyn Ariki Ngatai Maxwell between December 11 and December 18.
• Otara labourer Mansell Dwayne Burns was charged with murder when he made a brief appearance at Manukau District Court
• Mansell Dwayne Burns was yesterday committed to the High Court to stand trial for the murder of Jaelyn Ariki Ngatai Maxwell, aged 6,

She said Jaelyn had been born in Palmerston North with clubbed feet. They moved to Auckland early last year when her relationship with the boy's father, Ariki Maxwell, ended. She met Burns, 24, unemployed of Otara, and they became boyfriend and girlfriend and moved into a rented home in Manurewa in September. Jaelyn had returned to Palmerston North and was attending school there, but in November she brought him back to Auckland. Ms Marino said that on December 11 last year, she got up about 8.30am and started tidying the house and making breakfast for Jaelyn, who had started playing with the home's PlayStation. Then Burns and Jaelyn began "play fighting" in the bedroom before she heard a bang and Jaelyn crying. Later, after Burns and Jaelyn had each been playing on the PlayStation, her son began vomiting. "I wanted to take him to the doctor but Mansell said he was all right and he would get over it," Ms Marino told the court. "I somehow knew there was more to it." She said Jaelyn then dozed off in the bedroom but Burns prevented her from entering it by jamming the door shut. Burns was "in an angry mood like something was wrong". Ms Marino said she later heard a bang and Burns came out of the bathroom saying Jaelyn was not breathing. Jaelyn was lying in the bath with water covering his arms and ears. She said she pulled Jaelyn from the bath and told Burns to get help, but he would not. Ms Marino said that when Burns started dabbing Jaelyn's head with cold water and put a stick in the boy's mouth so he could breathe, she noticed a gash on the side of her child's head. Burns told her he had swung Jaelyn round and knocked his head before the boy fell to the floor. When she told Burns she was going to get help he said he would be blamed. He would kill himself by putting a toaster in the bath. Asked by Mr Hamlin why she did not ring for an ambulance, Ms Marino said that Burns had said he was going to kill himself "and I just couldn't deal with any more tragedies". She said she pushed Jaelyn's chest to help him to breathe. Mr Hamlin: What was Mansell Burns doing? Ms Marino: Sitting there. The court heard that Jaelyn died on December 18 at the Starship children's hospital in central Auckland. He never regained consciousness. Source: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/mother-recalls-tragic-day-at-murder-d...