Kereama Rewita named as murder accused in death of Hastings man Keith Pati

Tulasunu’i Keith Alapati, 33, named as Keith Pati in court documents, died at Hawke’s Bay Hospital on February 16. Photo / Supplied

Name suppression has been lifted for a man accused of murder following the death of Keith Pati in Hastings last month.

Kereama Rewita, 28, a cleaner, appeared briefly in the High Court at Napier on Friday morning.

Justice David Boldt, on an audio-visual link from Wellington, remanded the Flaxmere man in custody without plea to appear again on May 9.

Rewita is charged with murdering Pati, who died in hospital late in the evening of February 16 after what police described as an assault near Kirkpatrick Park, in the Hastings suburb of Camberley.

The man who died is named as Keith Pati in court charging documents, with his family previously naming him publicly as Tulasunu’i Keith Alapati.

A family spokeswoman said earlier that he arrived in New Zealand in 2024 to “find a future for his family”.

His family would forever remember him as a “humble, loving guy”, she said.

“He was a great father, friend, brother, and cousin.

“He loved his children more than anything, loved going fishing, and loved putting his family first.”

A small number of Pati’s relatives attended the court on Friday.

Justice Boldt acknowledged their attendance on what he called a “difficult occasion”.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.