The aunt of slain 3-month-old Soul Turany broke down in court today during evidence at a coroner’s inquest about her “perfect” baby nephew who died from a non-accidental head injury in 2014.
And she told the court that Soul “didn’t seem to like” his mother Storme’s then-boyfriend Tony Farmer, and how she “wished she had listened more”.
“Storme told me she didn’t think Soul liked Tony … Tony did not help much,” Skye Lamborn said.
“Tony didn’t have much at all to do with Soul … [Storme] didn’t like the way he held him … she said he held him up … and he couldn’t breathe. She said that a few times.
“Storme was always worried about Tony… there was no bond between him and Soul. She wasn’t comfortable with him. I don’t remember Tony feeding Soul, she wasn’t comfortable with anything like that.
“I don’t know why I didn’t listen more … I wish in hindsight I had have listened to those concerns … In hindsight, I never would have taken a risk like that.”
Soul suffered a catastrophic head injury – the result of “a hard impact” – at a house in Burnham on August 30, 2014.
Emergency services were called after Soul became “limp” and had difficulty breathing.
Soul was flown to Christchurch Hospital by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter in a critical condition.
His injuries were not survivable, and he was taken off life support just after 3am the following day.
Police launched a homicide investigation.
The only people at the house when Soul was hurt were his mother, Storme Turany and her then-partner, Tony Farmer.
They split up soon after the little boy died.
Nobody has ever been charged over the infant’s death, though police named Turany and Farmer as persons of interest in the months after.
An inquest is now being held to establish the circumstances.
Over the last week, Coroner Ian Telford has heard extensive evidence from doctors involved with Soul’s death, and about the criminal investigation.
Turany and Farmer will give evidence later this week.
The court heard Lamborn was “really closely involved” with Soul from the moment Storme learned she was pregnant.
“He was perfect ... He was a good baby. We loved him from the time of the second line on the [pregnancy test] strip,” she said.
“He was big and beautiful, and he was perfect, and we were looking forward very much to him growing up with us.
“I loved him very much, as much as my own children.”
Lamborn said she and Turany were very close.
Turany had worked on the same dairy farm as Lamborn and her husband.
Lamborn was involved in every part of Soul’s life and care, and often looked after him.
He was formula-fed, so it was easy for Lamborn to care for Soul overnight.
“I’d look after him as if he were my own child … I had three children, and I just treated him like my own," she said.
“It was a pretty special time in our lives ... I liked having Soul.”
She said Storme had a “difficult” upbringing but seemed to be doing well as a first-time mum.
“Storme would have asked for help if she needed it,” Lamborn said.
The day before Soul was fatally injured, Lamborn said he was happy and healthy, other than a runny nose from a cold.
When she next saw Soul, it was obvious there was something wrong with him.
“I didn’t know it was life-threatening – but I knew that he was seriously unwell,” she said.
She said Turany had never made any admissions to her about hurting Soul, and never disclosed details of any “accident” before he was rushed to the hospital.
Lamborn agreed she was “protective” of Turany.
“I love my sister very much ... she has been through so much,” she said.
“She has been treated terribly ... this is a horrible thing to go through and have people accusing her.”
Lamborn became upset, when considering that someone she knew had hurt baby Soul.
“I would admit it,” she said.
“I don’t know how other people would react. Apparently they don’t.”
She was adamant that Turany had not disclosed any further information about how Soul was injured – nor had she “asked for advice” about the situation.
She said she never saw anyone hurt Soul, but something Farmer did to the baby gave her “the heebies”.
“Storme came out of the bedroom ... she was shaken up,” Lamborn said.
“Tony had been in the bedroom with Soul, and he put a cloth over his face, and she’d gotten upset about this ... and she’d come out and asked me if this was normal.
“She described him doing it to put him to sleep or waving it down his face or something, and I just remember saying ‘no, that is not normal’, and it gave me the willies.”
Lamborn said Soul was not hurt at the time.
“He wasn’t harmed – because we were there, I know he was fine,” she said.
Turany and Farmer were in a relationship for about two months before Soul died.
The court heard that the relationship was tumultuous at times – Turany once told her sister she had “a huge fight” with Farmer and he “smashed the TV”.
“I wasn’t worried for Storme’s safety with Tony,” she said during questioning by police lawyer Karyn South.
“If I was concerned about her safety, I would have done something.”
She confirmed she was not concerned about Soul either.
When interviewed by police in 2014 after Soul died, Lamborn told police: “I just don’t see any feasible way this could have happened unless it was me or my sister”.
When asked “was it you?”, she replied; “no, it wasn’t me”.
Lamborn said today that she was not accusing her sister – rather acknowledging that Soul had only been at her place or Turany’s leading up to his fatal injury.
“I could hear what they were saying but I didn’t believe it – I didn’t believe it for these last 12 years,” she said.
Lamborn also told police that Turany called her “crying” on a previous occasion “sh***ing herself” as she had “chucked” Soul down “hard on the bed”.
She was “not concerned” though, as she did not believe Turany would ever hurt the baby and put it down to an overreacting and worried new mum panicking.
“I was being hammered by police to come up with anything I could think of. I was trying to rack my brains for anything I had ever been told,” she offered in explanation.
“We were so careful with our babies.”
At the time, Turany had a bed with a wooden headboard and footboard. Lamborn said her sister did not mention Soul striking either end – either that day or on any other occasion: “100% no”, she said.
Lamborn told the court that while Soul was still on life support in the hospital, she assured her sister she would stand by her and support her if she was the one who harmed the baby.
She said on that day, and ever since, Turany has firmly denied any involvement.
Lamborn told the court she was sure that if her sister was responsible for Soul’s death, she would have confided in her.
Police confirmed earlier in the inquest that Lamborn has been ruled out as a person of interest in relation to Soul’s fatal injuries.
Lamborn agreed that she told police that Farmer “didn’t do it”.
A detective said to her: “You were telling me that Tony didn’t do it, and you’ve got no doubt?”.
Lamborn replied: “I’ve been told Tony had no time with him alone ... From what I’ve seen I’ve got no reason to think he would”.
In court, she was asked who told her Farmer “had no time”.
“Storme did,” she said.
At the end of her evidence, Lamborn was asked if there was anything else she wanted to say about Soul’s death.
“We didn’t know anything about Tony... there’s very little doubt in my mind what happened,” she said.
“If I had known, I wouldn’t have left him with my children. I would have watched him more carefully.”
She reiterated she had “no concerns” or suspicions about Turany even after she had “racked her brains over the years”.
This morning, Coroner Telford heard evidence from a Plunket nurse and midwife.
“Everything seemed to be fine, mum was happy,” said the nurse.
“Overall, [Soul] seemed very well and happy.”
The nurse said Turany was “very open and engaging” with her during visits and “wanted to be a good parent”.
She said Turany was “doing all that she could” for her baby, and there were no concerns.
The midwife saw Soul a number of times after he was born and said there were no red flags.
She said he was “a big baby” and he was healthy and meeting his milestones.
“He was doing great; there were no concerns,” she said.
When she saw Soul she would check his body “all over” and there were no signs of abuse.
“People think our job is that we just hold babies, but we’re constantly on the lookout for the abnormal,” she said.
“There was nothing abnormal.”
The midwife confirmed that during his birth by C-section, Soul was not injured.
On Friday, Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney – the officer in charge of the investigation into Soul’s death – gave evidence.
“He was, by all accounts – until the 30th of August 2014 – a well-cared-for baby, who was meeting his milestones,” he said.
“From the outset of the investigation, the head injury to Soul presented as a non-accidental injury.
“It was very apparent, and it came to me quite quickly through the expert opinion that this was a dire head injury, and it could be non-accidental.”
Sweeney said Turany and Farmer both “consistently” denied they were involved in Soul’s death.
Neither party accused anyone else.
Sweeney said a police team firmly believed Soul’s death was not an accident – that either his mother or her then-boyfriend had inflicted the fatal injuries.
“One of them must be responsible,” he said.
He said three criminal charges were considered, but to date, based on the Solicitor General’s prosecution guidelines, there was not enough evidence to prosecute Turany or Farmer.
“That could change at any time if new information came to the attention of this investigation,” he said.
“Based on the various findings and information gathered, the charges considered were murder, manslaughter and infanticide.”
The inquest continues.
Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 20 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz