A mother's second tragedy

Tiffany Topia. Photo / Supplied

Tiffany Topia is just 26, but she is no stranger to tragedy.

First she lost her partner in a vicious gangland killing. Now she's lost one of her baby triplets in what police are treating as a homicide. Both died after suffering head injuries.

In September 2008 the Wanganui mum of four's previous partner, Paul Kumeroa, was brutally slain in the town.

Kumeroa, the father of Topia's 5-year-old son, was attacked by four people with Black Power connections while walking home one night wearing a red hoodie. He was hit on the head with the butt of an axe and died in hospital.

Red is the colour associated with the Mongrel Mob, but Kumeroa had no gang connections. The judge described the killing as "utterly cowardly", and said Kumeroa was a "hard worker who did not get into trouble".

Kumeroa's son has had to grow up without a father and, since the death of his 2-month-old sister, Hinekawa Topia, on January 12, he and the surviving triplets have been cared for by Child Youth and Family.

According to a family member's Facebook page, the triplet girls arrived healthy by caesarean section, and three minutes apart.

They spent time in an incubator at Wellington Hospital while they gained weight.

Topia said on her Facebook page, before the triplets were born, that she loved her son to bits.

"He is my world luv u my baby boi ... luv u my baby boi frm mum an dad will alwayz an 4 eva be watchng ova u".

Paul Kumeroa's mother, Caroline Kumeroa, described Topia as a "good mother" who had been left "in shock" after Paul's death.

"She is a good mum, a very good mum." Topia was "awesome" with children, she said.

Topia and the triplets' father, Tom McGregor, 29, were said to be reeling after Hinekawa's death and have asked to be left alone. Hinekawa's tangi was held last Sunday. Police said her death was caused by a "non-accidental" head injury.

Jennifer Waitai-Rapana, who described herself as "whanau and friend" and who has been handling media enquiries, said the family needed to "heal" and would not talk publicly yet.

Willie McGregor, a former Mongrel Mob president-turned-Christian, also had links with the family. He said the last thing they needed was a "trial by media", which would only fuel speculation about what might have happened.

"Right now, the nation's screaming out, baying for blood, but there's a little child's blood that's yet to be addressed."

The police investigation needed to be able to run its course, and the couple needed to grieve, he said.

Police said the family was co-operating with the investigation, which included forensic examinations of a house in Wanganui's Castlecliff and another in the small South Taranaki town of Waitotara, population 66.

Hinekawa was taken to Wanganui Hospital on January 12 where, despite attempts by her father and hospital staff, she could not be resuscitated. Police have warned the public not to leap to conclusions.

Spokeswoman Kim Perks said 20 staff were working on the enquiry. "They've done interviews with anyone that's had any information or contact with the triplets to build up that picture of where they've been in those two months." That included liaising with medical professionals, Perks added.

kathryn.powley@hos.co.nz