Teen found guilty of murdering Napier boy Kaea Karauria

A jury has taken just two hours to find a teen guilty of murdering 15-year-old Napier boy Kaea Karauria by stabbing him with a knife.The teen has been on trial in the High Court at Palmerston North for the past fortnight for the attack in May last year.The teen, who has name suppression, will stay in custody until next month, when he's sentenced in Napier.When the jury returned its unanimous verdict on Tuesday afternoon the teen, who has Mongrel Mob insignia tattooed on his face, stood impassively in the dock, his family and supporters behind him in the court's public gallery.Earlier on Tuesday Justice Karen Grau summed up the case for the jury.Teen knew he could kill - CrownThe Crown's case was that the teen, then aged 15, joined an attack on Kaea, which began because one of the teen's friends was upset about a minor incident at a party weeks earlier.The attack took place on Dinwiddie Avenue in Napier, outside another party.The teen was sitting in a car when he noticed what was happening and ran over, pulled a knife, and stabbed Kaea in the chest and neck. One of the several blows severed an artery, which caused Kaea's death. The teen didn't know Kaea."He has chosen to stab Kaea in a dangerous or vulnerable part of the body," Justice Grau said of the Crown argument.Kaea sprinted away from his attackers, all associated with the Mongrel Mob and who were shouting "sieg f...... heil", around the corner on to Alexander Avenue, in the suburb of Onekawa.There, the Crown said the teen again stabbed Kaea.The teen and his friends then returned to Dinwiddie Avenue. The teen grabbed a phone and recorded a video of his bloody hand holding the murder weapon."The Crown says that despite [the teen's] limitations, based on what you know about the night, that [the teen] knew what he was doing and intended to kill, or at the very least he knew that what he was doing could kill Kaea, and he did it anyway," the judge said of the Crown case.Guilty of manslaughter - defenceHowever, the defence said the second part of that attack didn't take place, although the teen admitted stabbing Kaea on Dinwiddie Avenue, and should be found guilty of manslaughter.The teen had been drinking and taking drugs that day.He had no intention to kill Kaea and also, because of a significant intellectual impairment, didn't know his actions could cause death.Justice Karen Grau summed up the case for the jury on Tuesday.RNZ/Jimmy EllinghamThe teen gave evidence in his defence and admitted "swinging the knife around like a maniac", the judge said.The defence also said a Crown witness to the second phase of the attack was unreliable."The defence says you know from [the teen] himself that he had no intention to kill Kaea and no appreciation that Kaea's death was likely," Justice Grau said of the defence case."And with what we all know about [the teen's] brain, his youth, his intellectual disability, on top of which are the effects of drugs and alcohol that night, that means this is not a case of murder, it's a case of manslaughter."The jury didn't agree.Two others have pleaded guilty to Kaea's manslaughter, and two others faced charges of injuring with intent in the Youth Court.The trial sat for no longer than 30 minutes at a time, to allow the teen regular breaks. He was assisted by communications advisers and spent much of his time in court fiddling with items or drawing.The court heard he had fetal alcohol spectrum disorder - his mother said she drank heavily and used drugs when pregnant - and his IQ ranked him in the lowest 2 percent of the population.Kaea Karauria attended Napier Boys' High School and was described as a quiet and respectful student, who loved sport.He died about 3am on Sunday May 11, 2025, in the backyard of a stranger's house, having cleared several fences on Alexander Avenue while he ran for his life. One of his friends found him crying in pain, unable to speak.