Tyla-Maree Daryl Flynn

Tortured and killed by stepfather Whiti Te Rau Hopa (aka Rikki Hotham). Tyla-Maree lived on a poultry farm on Puriri Road, north of Tokoroa. She and her two siblings were being looked after by their stepfather Whiti Te Rau Hopa (aka Rikki Hotham) on 28 June 2007 while her mother Lisa Barron was out. It was during this time, medical experts told police, that Tyla-Maree was "immersed face-first in a vessel of water" receiving severe burns on her face, shoulders, torso and back. Medical experts and police also believe Whiti inflicted burns consistent with cigarette marks on the toddler's genitals, inner knee and neck, which were "extremely unlikely to be accidental". The back of her head was also bruised. When her mother Lisa Barron saw Tyla-Maree the following morning, 16 hours after she had been burned, she rushed her horrifically injured child to Tokoroa Hospital. Tyla-Maree died an hour later from a secondary lung infection and septicaemia. Whiti was charged with the murder of Tyla-Maree on 8 April 2008. He was released on bail. Whiti was on the wrong side of the road overtaking a truck when his car ploughed head-on into a four-wheel-drive vehicle driven by Auckland mother Angela Eliza Wolley, on State Highway 1, near Tokoroa on 18 October 2008. Both died at the scene. Tyla-Maree was buried at Wharerangi Lawn Cemetery in Napier. Her birth father, William Daryl Flynn-Houkamau, would be buried next to her after being killed in a car crash near Napier on 4 December 2007. Source: https://debbiemccauleyauthor.wordpress.com/biographies/new-zealand-....

Faces of Innocents: Badly burnt toddler Tyla-Maree Flynn left to die in pain. If Tyla-Maree Flynn had been taken to the doctor after she was burned, she'd still be alive. Tyla-Maree would be without a father - he died in a car crash in 2007. But she'd also be without her step-father - the man the coroner blames for her horrific death. Rikki Hotham, who was Barron's partner at the time of Tyla-Maree's death, died in a car crash in 2008 while awaiting trial for the toddler's murder. Tyla-Maree was badly burnt before her death on June 28, 2007. Over twenty per cent of her body - including her face - was covered in blistering burns. The inquest found she died after developing a secondary lung infection and septicaemia - a direct result of the burns. Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/faces-of-innocents/80088408/faces-...

June 2017: Tyla-Maree Darryl Flynn, 1, died as a result of severe burns to her head and body believed to be caused by hot water. The Tokoroa toddler's stepfather Riki Hotham was charged with murder but died in a car crash before his trial. Source: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/61-little-names-on-new-zealands-roll-...

Sources

1. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/murder-accuseds-path-of-destruction/R...
2. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/faces-of-innocents/80088408/faces-...
3. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/61-little-names-on-new-zealands-roll-...
4. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4465487/Horrific-end-to-youn...