A coroner is investigating six suicides of young people in Northland as he looks for solutions

The hearing takes place earlier Coroner Tania Tetitaha and will investigate the deaths of five young people in 2018 and one in 2020. They were aged between 12 and 16.

Coroner Tetitaha opened the hearing on Tuesday by acknowledging the enormous emotional trauma the loss of the young people had caused and expressed hope that the results of the hearing would bring closure to their whānau.

She said issues of the causes of any suspected suicide would be investigated, including barriers to accessing suicide prevention resources and recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths.

“We need to be able to refer you on so you have some way forward,” Coroner Tetitaha told whānau during the hearing.

Hamuera Rawiri Arapeta Ellis-Erihe was 16 when he is believed to have taken his own life. His mother, Bobby-Jo Ellis, was the first witness to testify about the details leading to her son’s death.

Ellis told the court her son was a caring soul, full of potential, who brought so much happiness to his whānau and was a natural dancer.

“He loved music, he was a rapper, a dancer and a bit of a singer. He was really natural,” she said.

“He was also a bit of a ladies man, he was all about girls.”

When Ellis-Erihe entered high school, his life began to change.

The mother of three said her son was beaten almost every two weeks by local street gang ADKZ for shoes and phones.

She said the gang prowled bus stops looking for recruits, and her son stopped going to school to avoid them. When she told him to sort things out, he joined the gang.

“He tried to stay away from them, but he thought, ‘If you can’t beat them, join them,’” she said.

Ellis said she was regularly called into the assistant principal’s office about her son’s behavior.

“Single mothers try to keep our children in school, but it is difficult to keep a child in school when the child does not want to go. I did everything I could,” she said.

At the age of 16, Ellis-Erihe entered the third secondary school, where he finally found his place.

“He was very loved there and loved it. We saw huge changes, he set some goals for himself and knew what he wanted to do,” Ellis said proudly.

Ellis said her son had a girlfriend of three years whom he loved very much, but there were difficulties in the relationship at times.

On August 25, 2018, her son woke up early, washed the dishes and was ready for school. She dropped him and his girlfriend off at school, but was surprised when he showed up at home an hour later.

“He was just sitting on the couch and playing in space, he was really depressed.”

She heard that he had an argument with his girlfriend over a donut. Later that evening, he insisted that someone drop him off at her house.

“I died the day Hamuera died”

Around 11 p.m., he had a bag on his back and said he was going to her house, and his mom said, “Don’t be stupid, I’ll take you tomorrow.”

This was the last time she saw her son, who was found dead the next day.

“I died the day Hamuera died,” she said through tears.

“I gave up on life, so to speak, I don’t cook, I don’t drive because I passed out, I ran a red light several times and I haven’t slept since he died.”

People began leaving items in Ellis-Erihe’s memory at the Raumanga Valley Reserve, which his mother said the city council told her to remove several times.

“I had to tell them I couldn’t continue doing this because it was difficult for me as his mother. I took them away and more showed up.”

Eventually Whangārei District Council realized the huge impact his life had on others and installed a plaque in his honor in the park.

Ellis said that after her son’s death, bereavement support became a huge problem and she felt she was unable to contact the counselors offered to her or her children.

“She made me draw pictures of my favorite places, I found it lame and demoralizing.”

Ellis said she hoped telling her son’s story would help others and asked the coroner for recommendations on increasing suicide awareness and bullying prevention.

“There needs to be more awareness and support that suicide should never be considered.

“I don’t want this to happen again, let alone with someone I love. My son was very loved, loved beyond words, but love was not enough to keep him here.”

A number of witnesses will be called to give evidence from the Ministry of Education, Oranga Tamariki and Health New Zealand.

Coroner Tetitaha is expected to publish her recommendations in early 2025, but has already indicated that “it will be established that all rangatahi died by suicide.”

Shannon Pitman is an Open Justice reporter based in Whangārei, covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is from Ngāpuhi/Ngāti Pūkenga and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.