Poseidyn Reigns Hemopo-Pickering

Died after injuries received while in the sole care of his stepfather Anthony Simon Pickering. Two days earlier, Anthony had learnt that Poseidyn may not be his biological son, but his nephew's, and so he punched his partner Filoi Huakau in the face while she was holding Poseidyn. At the family’s Manurewa home in William Ave, South Auckland, Poseidyn received complex skull fractures, with the back of his head smashed in. Anthony admitted to family members that he struck Poseidyn in a bout of anger about not being his biological father. Poseidyn was rushed to Middlemore Hospital and later to Starship Hospital. It was found that a broken bone from the skull had caused a laceration on Poseidyn's brain. Doctors also found fractures on the Poseidyn's leg that were healing and during a CT scan saw straw-coloured blood of mixed density indicating an older injury (10 months).

Manurewa baby death: Prosecutors argue case in Anthony Pickering murder trial. Paramedics found 10-month-old Poseidyn Hemopo-Pickering unresponsive at his Manurewa, South Auckland, home on the evening of September 5, 2020. In the hours that followed, as medical staff at two different hospitals tried in vain to save his life, the baby was found to have complex skull fractures, with the back of his head smashed in. Broken bone from the skull had caused a laceration on the boy's brain - an injury that all medical experts agreed would have resulted in immediate unconsciousness. Crown prosecutor Todd Simmonds said today it "cannot reasonably be suggested" the baby's injuries occurred at any other time than the hours before paramedics were called - the same afternoon when Poseidyn was left alone for 16 minutes with the defendant as his mother ran an errand. While jurors don't need a motive to convict, Simmonds said testimony about the defendant's suspicions that he might not have been the child's biological father "adds very important context". "He resented the fact this little boy might not be his - might in fact be the son of his nephew," Simmonds said. "It's an awful thing to consider. But there's no getting away from the fact that little boy has been viciously assaulted." The boy's mother testified during the trial that an argument over paternity just two days prior to Poseidyn's death had ended with Pickering punching her in the face as she held their child. Simmonds also called jurors' attention to testimony from two relatives who said they spoke to Pickering at his son's tangi and the defendant described back-handing the child, causing Poseidyn "to go flying and hitting his head on the window sill". He said he was angry because he thought his nephew was Poseidyn's father, one of the witnesses recalled. Source: NZ Herald (8 July 2022) https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/manurewa-baby-death-prosecutors-argue...

Man acquitted of pēpi murder. An Auckland father has been acquitted of murdering his infant son. A jury tasked with determining whether Anthony Simon Pickering, 32, murdered his baby has tonight returned a not guilty verdict. Source: Māori Television https://www.teaomaori.news/man-acquitted-pepi-murder