'Murder, manslaughter or infanticide”: a jury must decide which it was when a woman killed her six-month-old son.

The three options were given by defence lawyer Fraser Wood, who began his closing address on Monday at Melody Ngawhika​'s trial at the High Court in Rotorua.

Ngawhika faces one charge: that between August 28-29 last year, when the country was in a Covid lockdown, she murdered her six-month-old son Elijah-Abraham Ngawhika.

Wood described Ngawhika as 'an otherwise good and loving mother. . . [who] suffers a significant mental illness and inexplicably kills a child”, encouraging the jury towards an infanticide verdict - but the Crown questioned whether her actions fit the definition.

Both Crown prosecutor Amanda Gordon and Wood told the jury earlier that there was no dispute Ngawhika killed her son by suffocating him.

The key issue, both said, was whether she murdered her son or had committed infanticide.

According to the Crimes Act 1961, the rare charge of infanticide can apply 'Where a woman causes the death of any child of hers under the age of 10 years in a manner that amounts to culpable homicide, and where at the time of the offence the balance of her mind was disturbed”.

Wood told the jury the death of a small child is 'always a tragedy” but asked them not to let their emotions cloud their decision-making.

'The issue for you is the level of responsibility, murder, manslaughter or infanticide,” he said.

”Melody had offered to plead guilty to infanticide, and I invite you to return a verdict of guilty to infanticide. . . She accepts full responsibility for Elijah's death, but she is not guilty of murder.

'Her acceptance has to be at the correct level.”

He also told the jury the charge of infanticide, which earlier in the trial Justice Pheroze Jagose​ had said relied on wording formulated 85 years ago in 1937 – was created 'to deal precisely with the type of case we're doing here, to ameliorate against the harshness of a murder charge”.

Wood said that Ngawhika was a good mum to two children with no history of abuse, violence or neglect towards them.

'I suspect none of us will truly understand why she did this. . . Melody doesn't understand why she did this either.”

Wood also said it was clear that at the time she killed her son 'the balance of her mind was disturbed”.

”Regardless of what your verdict is, she will bear the consequences for the rest of her life.”

Crown prosecutor Amanda Gordon told the jury in her closing remarks that Ngawhika was suffering from a major depressive episode at the time she killed her son, and that the Crown accepted she 'had a disturbed mind” at the time.

She said the key issue, however, was whether her actions fitted the legal definition for infanticide.

'The real issue here. . . is it reasonably possible when Ms Ngawhika killed Elijah her disturbed mind was due to her not having fully recovered from childbirth?”

She said Ngawhika was subject to a number of stresses at the time, including the return in her life of a figure from the past who had abused her.

Legal suppression prevents reporting anything that could identify that person.

She also asked the jury to examine a number of factors; her depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder 'carefully”.

'You will have to question and query whether any of those things arose as a result of Elijah's birth”.

She also said the psychosis Ngawhika demonstrated at the time of the killing 'centres around a lot of [the past abuser's] beliefs, demons, Jezebels, things of those kind”.

'The timing would suggest it's the reconnection with [the past abuser] that's the real cause of her decline,” Gordon said.

'The law is clear infanticide is only available to someone who suffers a disturbed mind as a result of a disorder relating from childbirth.”

Justice Jagose sent the jury away to begin their deliberations, telling them 'take as long as you need”.

'Thank you and good luck.”

-Benn Bathgate/Stuff.