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It has been a day of tension and developments at the trial of
six men accused of murdering Wanganui toddler Jhia Te
Tua.
One of the accused has changed his plea admitting manslaughter,
while the alleged shooter took the stand in his own defence.
For the last four weeks, Hayden Wallace has listened to evidence he
shot Jhia Te Tua with a high-powered rifle, killing her
instantly.
But on Monday, with one word, he hit back at the charge he fired the fatal shot from a passing vehicle into Jhia's Puriri Street home.
When asked by Paul Mabey, the Defence counsel whether he was present at Puriri Street when the shooting occurred, he answered 'no'.
The Crown claims Wallace was part of a three-car convoy of Mongrel Mob members who shot at the house to avenge an earlier attack by her Black Power father Josh.
They say Wallace was the triggerman, acting on the orders of co-accused Karl Check.
And that sparked an exchange of classic court-room thrust-and-parry between the alleged gang prospect and the prosecution.
Grant Burston, the Crown prosecutor, asked Wallace if Karl Check asked him to use the gun at Puriri Street. But Wallace says that was not true.
Burston carried on claiming Wallace was Check's prospect and that Check gave him the order to shoot.
But Wallace vehemently denied that he was Check's prospect and denying he got an order to shoot from Check.
Wallace also added he didn't even hear about the shooting until the following day.
"We were listening to it on the news or watched it on the TV news," says Wallace.
He also told the court of his friendship with Check and of how Check helped him through a hard time when his three-month-old daughter died.
Another accused, Godfrey Thomas Muraahi, one of four other men charged with the toddler's murder changed his plea and admitted to Jhia's manslaughter.
Muraahi, 27, who has also admitted being part of an organised criminal group, was remanded in custody for sentencing.
The other six members of the alleged hit squad chose not to give evidence.
Two-year-old Jhia died on May 5 last year after shots were fired at her parents' home in the Wanganui suburb of Gonville during a gang-related drive-by shooting.
Hayden John Wallace, 27, Karl Unuka Check, 26, Ranji Tane Forbes, 21, Erueti Chase Nahona, 20, and Richard Anthony Puohotaua, 28, are accused of her murder.
Luke John Check, 24, is accused of being an accessory to murder after the fact.
They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Much of the trial has been held under tight security because of fears of gang tension, but it now looks like the hearing may end late this week.
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