Two grieving families have broken their silence over a catastrophic birthday party.
Sixteen-year-old Renee Brown was killed and a dozen others injured after a car was driven into a crowd of Whangarei partygoers.
Speaking to ONE News, spokesperson Lyn Sneddon read a statement from the Brown family.
"Renee was our youngest child and the jewel of our lives, she was a beautiful young woman.
"She had a bright future ahead of her... at this time our family is devastated and we feel it should never have happened."
Whangarei Girls High School, where Brown was a student, is also in mourning.
"This year she'd set her goals for really doing well and it's just been swept out from under her feet," says Sneddon, who is the school's principal.
The teenager was not a typical partygoer. Her family says Saturday's birthday was one of the few she had been to.
The family who put on that party is still reeling. One of their relatives is charged with Brown's murder after she drove a car into a crowd of partygoers.
Party organiser Elliott Johnson's 15-year-old son Riki was among the injured.
He is still recovering in hospital and cannot remember being hit, while his older brother Brett is devastated because it was his birthday party.
Several Whangarei high schools are now offering counselling following the tragedy.
Renee Brown's body is on its way to the Far North where her family say she will be farewelled on Wednesday at Te Hapua marae.
Her friends at Whangarei Girls High School have said their goodbyes at a private flower-filled ceremony at the family home.
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