Jayden Stephen Perrin

Jayden was 10 months old when, on June 7, 1998, he was flown from Nelson by emergency helicopter to Auckland's Starship Hospital. His body was limp. A pathologist would later say that Jayden had suffered blunt force to his head. It was consistent with a direct, severe blow to his temple that caused his skull to fracture. The bruising had a pattern. It looked like the impression of a sock, or a shoe. The pathologist said the blows caused soft tissues in his scalp and forehead to swell, along with massive bleeding in his scalp, massive fracturing of the skull, and severe internal brain damage. Nelson Hospital paediatrician Dr Nick Baker told a court that the injury was "non-accidental" and comparable to what a child might suffer if unrestrained in a car which rolled at high speed. Swelling and bruising indicated that substantial force had been used, with multiple blows from different directions. Jayden died soon after arriving in Auckland. On the evening of June 6, a party was held at Jayden's home in Washington Valley, Nelson. He lived there with his older infant sister Juanita, his mother, and her de facto partner, Aaron Dale Vercoe, a 24-year-old fisherman from Mapua. Perrin told a court that she went to bed after being sick from drinking a "blue shooter" that Vercoe had bought for her. At one stage, after visitors had left, she said she woke to hear her son whimpering. She found him in the lounge with Vercoe bending over him, changing his nappy. She said she took Jayden back to her bed and noticed a small bruise beside his right eye. Perrin said she awoke again to her son's whimpering, and noticed more injuries to his face and head. "He was covered in bruises and he had a swollen head," she said. Vercoe told them that on the night of the party, he took Jayden, who was screaming, into the lounge to change his nappy. He said the boy kept trying get away from him and that he slapped Jayden twice fairly hard to the head. Later, Vercoe said they could have been blows or might have been punches. "I just hit him because he would not stop crying," Vercoe said. "I just lost it." He said he then put Jayden back to bed. Vercoe was charged with murder. However, he later claimed he made a false confession to protect Perrin, whom he thought was going to be charged. Vercoe was acquitted of murdering Jayden, after the two-week trial on February 27, 1999. After the trial, Detective Senior Sergeant Wayne Stringer, of Nelson police, said there was no evidence to support a further investigation or charge anyone else, and Jayden's killing would not be re-investigated unless new evidence was put forward by the Crown. Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/faces-of-innocents/81575625/faces-...

1997 Jaydon Perrin, 10 months old. Died of massive head injuries while in the care of his mother Leanne, and her boyfriend Aron Vercoe. Both were charged with murder, but were acquitted. Source: https://childabuseinnz.wordpress.com/my-memorial/