Stop young deaths pleads victim's mum

Remember the children who've died from violence - and don't let it happen again.
That's the message from Queenie Dunn, mother of Whangarei teenager Mairina Dunn, who was brutally murdered by her boyfriend at an Otangarei house a year ago today.
Ms Dunn was today taking a coach load of young people to the Panguru cemetery in Hokianga where Mairina is buried to pay their respects and remember her ``beautiful daughter'. Pa O Te Ora charitable trust, which runs domestic violence programmes, is funding the trip.
As part of the journey they will take a dip in the ocean to "wash away" some of the hurt and reflect on the consequences of domestic violence.
Mairina, 17, was slain by Nathan Fenton, then 31, in a Holmes Ave house, the beating so bad experienced detectives described it as the most brutal they had ever seen.
At the weekend Ms Dunn was at the Kamo home she shared with Mairina, making preparations for the journey to her daughter's final resting place.
It's been a tough year for Ms Dunn. Since August 27 last year she's had to endure Fenton on the run, his court appearances and intense media scrutiny.
"I said before all this happened that if anything happened to one of my girls like that I'd go nuts - but throughout this Mairina has had this big calm over me. All the anger has gone - I don't know where, but it has. I was expecting to be really angry but anger doesn't help you heal. It doesn't solve anything. It doesn't help you move on," she said.
A lot has changed in that nightmare 12 months. She said domestic violence was taking a higher profile and people were talking about it more openly - but youngsters were still being killed by those who were supposed to protect them.
"I want people to honour those young people killed by violence. Kids like Jhia Te Tua, Chris and Cru Kahui and Mairina, to remember them and do what they can to make sure no more young people get killed. I don't want more mothers going through what I have this past year," she said.
Mairina's younger sister Waimirirangi, now six, has helped Ms Dunn heal and stopped her from "giving up".
Waimirirangi's smile, maturity and openness in discussing her older sister had made her mother proud, while she had also seen positive change among many of Mairina's friends.
"Many of the teenagers Mairina was hanging around with at the time have changed. Some of them have gone back to school, or into training or into jobs. They are getting on with making their lives better and that's good," she said.
"Mairina was so full of life, a beautiful girl who always spoke her mind. She had a few upsets in her life, and certainly wasn't an angel, but at that time she was getting her life together and was doing well."
Ms Dunn was particularly happy when Mairina completed a course at Burnham Military Camp and described seeing her daughter in uniform marching on parade at Burnham as the proudest day of her life.
And Ms Dunn doesn't want to see any other young woman go through the same ordeal as her daughter, who suffered a 90-minute attack with a sawn-off shotgun.
She is urging other women and young girls living in violent relationships to seek help.
"My heart goes out to other women with violent men, particularly the young women with older men. Younger women seem to like the older, experienced men, as if it gives them more power or makes them feel safer," she said.
"But don't be so blinded by love. It might start off great, but when it starts getting violent it's hard to get out of it and they can feel powerless.
"If you are in that situation, seek help, talk to somebody about it. And to those men, if you are beating up your woman that's not manly, that's not what a man does. It's cowardly."
Ms Dunn said Mairina's death had not been in vain as many people had used it as a chance to improve themselves. She agreed to speak out on the anniversary of her death in the hope that it might prevent a similar tragedy.
She also paid tribute to the people, family members and complete strangers who had helped her.