Bashed teenager's memory lives on in his music

Linda Beduhn doesn't want any more violence.

Riki Mafi died on Tuesday.

The mother of a teenager fatally bashed in an unprovoked attack yesterday called for an end to the violence.

A judge also voiced concerns about an "epidemic of needless violence" on the streets of south Auckland when a man appeared in court charged with assaulting Riki Mafi.

The 17-year-old died on Tuesday from injuries inflicted in an attack in Otara Town Centre on Saturday night.

Police said Riki was a bystander who was set upon by a group of men who had been chasing two other men with a metal baseball bat.

Benjamin Lozana Moka, 25, unemployed, appeared in the Manukau District Court yesterday charged with assaulting Riki. Moka, from Manurewa, is also charged with possession of cannabis and supplying the drug.

Judge Roy Wade refused to grant bail. In making his decision he mentioned rising violence and the possibility of retribution.

"The court has been very concerned about the epidemic of needless violence on the streets of south Auckland as a result of groups of young men fighting each other," Judge Wade said.

Three other men are due to appear in court this morning charged with assaulting Riki.

Riki's mother Linda Beduhn yesterday appealed to her son's friends and family not to seek retribution.

"I beg you, let's just stand tall and work with the police. We do not want any more of these boys in the hospital that my baby was in ... Let's bring this to light the proper way."

Ms Beduhn said the men who bashed Riki were cowards.

"Who has the right to take anyone's life like this? The cowards are the people who used a gang to fight one boy. You are cowards. Stand alone. You're too weak to do this with one person."

She spoke of Riki's passion for music and love for his family.

"I am so lucky that not everything has been taken from me. I have his music and in every song he says 'I love you mum' and it echoes three times. So thank you, baby."

Riki wrote and performed a song for the first time last year at the MEGAByte2 festival in the Yukon, northern Canada.

The song, "Up from down under", was released on a CD of the event, organised by the group Bringing Youth Towards Equality.

In his profile on the organisation's website, Riki, then 16, said he went to the town of Whitehorse for a three-month visit.

"I wrote my first song, I had my first public performance, I had my first interview and I had my first cheque."

Riki, who described himself as part Maori and part Niuean, said he would follow a musical path when he returned to school in New Zealand. "I will not forget my amazing experiences here, nor the fantastic people I met." Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Pizzini said the inquiry was making good progress and further serious charges were expected to be laid.


Words from a grieving mother

Linda Beduhn, mother of murdered teenager Riki Mafi:

To the public: We are all grieving. We will always grieve. To the people that are out there who may know something, I beg you to come forward to help our whanau to bring this to justice. I have all the faith in the world right now for the police and the job they are doing.

To the people who are still out there: There are three cultures who stand tall. We are a large family. We have our mana. We have our memories. But you have taken our boy. We will see justice.

To Riki's friends and family that may be looking for retaliation: I beg you, let's just stand tall and work with the police. We do not want any more of these boys in the hospital that my baby was in. Let's stop this here. Let's bring this to light the proper way.

To the people that were there that night, that know what they have done: You will not break me. You will not break my family. You will not break Riki's brothers and sisters - who you don't understand have lost the person that you have taken from us.

Do not underestimate our strength as a family. We will not break and I will bring my baby justice, I do believe that.

Kia kaha Riki.