Warning: This article contains extremely distressing details that may disturb some people.
The two people found guilty of murdering Auckland teenager Dimetrius Pairama have been sentenced to life in prison.
Ashley Winter, also known as Toko Shane Rei Winter, and Kerry Te Amo, 25, brutally tortured and killed the 17-year-old in an abandoned state house in Mangere in 2018. They were found guilty of her murder in September.
On Tuesday, both Winter and Te Amo were sentenced to life in prison with minimum non-parole periods of 19 years and four months and 19 years respectively.
Pairama's body was found in a steel drum at the Mangere property on July 8, 2018. Witnesses told the court the teenager, who was in Oranga Tamariki care at the time, had been severely beaten, burned with a lighter and spray can and hung with a sheet.
Justice Timothy Brewer said the killing had a "high level of cruelty, depravity and callousness".
The court heard the violence began when the 17-year-old arrived at the Mangere property with Winter, Te Amo and two other teens, who have name suppression.
"[Winter] gave her a hiding, pulled her to the floor by hair, punched her face and kicked her stomach.
"Pairama was crying and asking for help."
The 17-year-old was then forced to strip naked before being tied to a chair. Her mouth was taped shut.
"She was degraded, tortured and beaten further. You then cut and shaved her hair... and fashioned a blow torch to burn her genitals and breasts."
The court heard Pairama was then given a chilling choice.
"Winter, you told her to choose to die by hanging or being stabbed."
Te Amo then made a noose which was placed around Pairama's neck.
"Three of you then stood and watched Pairama die."
During last year's trial, which began in September in the Auckland High Court, the court heard Winter told police two different stories in the aftermath of Pairama's death. In one interview, Winter claimed she had nothing to do with the killing and was forced to watch Pairama be beaten, burned and hanged by a man and two teenagers.
However in a second interview played to the court, she admitted to beating Pairama because she had spread rumours about her.
Two emotionally-charged victim impact statements were read to the court on Tuesday by Pairama's family.
Her mother, Lena Hetaraka, addressed the court while wearing a T-shirt with her daughter's face printed on it.
"I still hardly sleep. Everytime I close my eyes I see her smiling. Then it fades into a sad face."
Hetaraka said her 17-year-old daughter was "headstrong" and had "high hopes and dreams". She has been left "heartbroken" by her brutal murder.
"All I could think was, I should've been there to protect her."
Fighting through tears, she addressed her daughter's killers.
"How dare they believe it was her right to take her mana, her dignity and her essence."
Pairama's adopted mother and step-grandmother, Lauren Wilkinson Poe, also had her statement read to the court by Pairama's aunt, Ursula Beazley. She described the 17-year-old's murder as a "cold, calculated and evil act".
She said as a girl, Dimetrius was known for her tantrums, earning the nickname 'Haka'.
"I would give anything to see her throw one last tantrum," Beazley said.
The court heard how her adopted mother struggled to comprehend the violence the 17-year-old endured and how she died with no loved ones to hold her.
"She'll no longer share another birthday, Christmas or Easter... this careless act robbed her from having a family of her own.
"The terror and fear she must have felt for the time you tortured her will forever haunt us."
She told the court no punishment would ever be enough, a statement echoed by Dimetrius' mother, who said after the sentencing that her family may never get the closure they want.
In a statement on Tuesday, Detective Inspector Tofilau Fa'amanuia Va'aelua of Counties Manukau Police says the department's thoughts and sympathies continue to be with those who knew and loved Dimetrius.
"Police deal with serious crime everyday, but the details of this case were deeply disturbing,"
he said.
"I hope today's sentencing can offer Dimetrius' family some degree of comfort as they continue to grieve and come to terms with her tragic and senseless death."
