Kaiya Shute was jailed for the death of teenager Connor Boyd (inset) in Auckland but will be released on parole in August.
Kaiya Shute was jailed for the death of teenager Connor Boyd (inset) in Auckland but will be released on parole in August.
The young Auckland woman who was jailed for the death of a teenager will be released on parole next month.
Kaiya Shute and her former boyfriend William Allister Grace were found criminally responsible in 2024 for the dragging death of 18-year-old Connor Boyd outside an Auckland Central nightclub in 2022.
She was sentenced to two years and two months’ imprisonment.
Connor Boyd, 18, died in April 2022 after he was run over in Central Auckland.
During the 2023 trial, Grace, who was driving during the incident, claimed he feared for his and his passengers’ safety after Boyd voiced a threat through the open window and allegedly started throwing punches.
Shute testified that she never grabbed Boyd’s arm and was in shock when her co-defendant did so.
Jurors, who repeatedly watched the horrific CCTV footage of the tumble, didn’t buy the defence and neither did the sentencing judge.
“He was outnumbered by you and your friends and did not demonstrate any physical aggression towards you,” Gault told Shute.
“Were it not for your animus to Mr Boyd through that night, coupled with your assistance to Mr Grace in the vehicle, Mr Boyd’s death would not have resulted.”
Boyd’s father, John, faced the pair in court at that hearing, during which Shute was sentenced to two years and two months’ jail and Grace to two and a half years.
