'He's dead': Teen's boast before filming bloody video following stabbing of Kaea Karauria

"He's dead. We stabbed him because we're Bay dogs."The Crown says those words rang out about 3am on May 11 last year when people involved in a fatal attack on 15-year-old Napier teen Kaea Karauria were asked what happened.One of the attackers, also 15 at the time, is now facing trial for Kaea's murder.After Kaea was attacked the teen recorded a 10-second video of his bloodied right hand and the 7 centimetre blade the teen stabbed him with.The Crown alleges the teen, who has significant intellectual impairments, is guilty of murder.It said Kaea was attacked because of a minor incident at a party a few weeks earlier, and because of the mistaken belief he was associated with Black Power, the High Court at Palmerston North heard on Tuesday.Kaea Karauria in his school uniform.SuppliedDog is a term for Mongrel Mob gang members and the teen on trial, whose name is suppressed, has Mob insignia tattooed across his face. That wasn't there in May 2025.The defence acknowledges the teen stabbed Kaea, but say he's guilty of manslaughter.Attack over 'trivial incident' - CrownCrown prosecutor Steve Manning said Kaea's night began when he attended the 16th birthday party of a rugby mate in Maraenui.Crown prosecutor Stephen Manning says the teen is guilty of murder.JIMMY ELLINGHAM / RNZKaea, a sporty Napier Boys' High School student, was dropped off and picked up by friends' parents."That should have been the end of the night. Kaea, however, wanted to return to the party later in the night because his girl friend was there," Manning said.When he and a mate made it back, the party had been shut down not long after the teen on trial and his associates had shown up.A large group then decided to go to a party in Onekawa. Kaea and the teen may have made contact there, but otherwise were unknown to each other.When they arrived at the Dinwiddie Ave property, Kaea and a friend never went inside, instead sitting on a low concrete wall outside.One of the teen's mates, however, saw red and decided to attack Kaea over a minor incident at a party a few weeks before, when there might have been accidental contact between Kaea and a girl.Manning said while the Crown didn't need to prove motive, the attack began over something trivial.Running for his lifeKaea Karauria died in Onekawa.SuppliedThe Crown alleges five people attacked Kaea on Dinwiddie Ave and there the teen on trial stabbed him in the neck, severing an artery. The defence doesn't dispute this."No doubt fearing for his life Kaea then took off, ran up the street, over a fence, into a another property," Manning said.As blood spurted from his wound Kaea cleared a couple more fences before ending up in the yard of a house on Alexander Ave, about 100 metres away from where he was stabbed."Come here you f...... n..... Get him, dog. Get him, dog," the Crown says the attackers yelled as they egged each other on. The n-word is a Mob name for Black Power members or associates.Manning said the group followed Kaea and found him lying on his back. He was set upon again, and the teen again stabbed him. The defence disputes this.The attackers returned to Dinwiddie Ave, where they boasted about what they'd done and the teen recorded his bloody video."They've left Kaea ostensibly bleeding to death on the grass in front of this random house...," Manning said.Kaea was found crying in pain by one of his friends. By the time emergency services turned up he was dead.Manning said it was agreed that as a 15-year-old, the teen would have had less self-control and would more impulsive and likely to act recklessly.On top of that, the teen's IQ of 70 put him in the bottom 2 percent of the population and showed he had an even lower chance of controlling his behaviour or impulses.Death devastating, but not murder - defenceDefence lawyer Tim Braithwaite acknowledged the profound loss for Kaea's family.Defence lawyer Tim Braithwaite acknowledges Kaea Karauria's death is devastating.JIMMY ELLINGHAM / RNZ"You'll not hear me suggest that his death was anything other than devastating. You will not hear me suggest on behalf of [the teen] that he was not the one who caused this devastation."However, Braithwaite said the Crown could not prove that the teen acted with murderous intent nor that he should have known his reckless actions could have caused death.Most people would understand that brandishing a knife could result in serious harm, but the teen did not due to his significant impairment.The teen didn't view the world like an average 15-year-old and instead had the functioning age of a 7-year-old. He had prenatal alcohol exposure, which is caused by a mother drinking when pregnant."His world is smaller, simpler and often confusing. [The teen] has a significantly reduced capacity in rapidly evolving situations," Braithwaite said."[The teen] did not intend death and he did not think that death was likely."The defence disputed that Kaea was attacked twice and said evidence for the second attack, on Alexander Avenue, came from an unreliable witness.The attackers chased Kaea, but never saw him again after the brief initial encounter.Braithwaite said the teen was taking responsibility for stabbing Kaea. The defence lawyer said the jury should find the teen guilty of manslaughter.Two others have pleaded guilty to Kaea's manslaughter, and two others faced charges of injuring with intent in the Youth Court.The trial is expected to last three weeks.