A woman visiting Auckland with her son undergoing cancer treatment has described the terrifying moment someone was killed in her Epsom motel this week.
The area’s local MP has condemned the incident saying violent crime in the inner city has become “pervasive” and a product of lax sentencing.
Police launched a homicide investigation after a man died at the Off Broadway Motel on Alpers Ave on Wednesday night. A teenager accused of murdering the man at the Epsom motel appeared in court on Thursday, denying the charge.
The incident was one of two unrelated homicides in central Auckland that day, while police are still searching for the killers of two more homicides in the city this month following shootings on Queen St and in the suburb of Pt England.
“It’s really unnerving to know there was someone deceased just below us all night and that police were trying to figure out what had happened because they hadn’t died of natural causes,” said a woman staying at the motel, who wished to remain anonymous.
“That was really scary.”
Epsom MP and Act Party leader David Seymour said the incident reflected what he believed was an increasing crime issue in the area.
“I know people will be absolutely appalled by this and something very similar, but no one died in that incident, occurred [this year] just around the corner on Manukau Rd at a different motel.”
In April, three people were injured in an alleged stabbing at Auckland’s Newmarket Motel, about 800m away from the Off Broadway Motel.
“Newmarket has recently taken on effectively its own private police force which has been highly effective, but it should never have been necessary,” Seymour said.
“[Crime] it’s just pervasive in that area. And it’s partly a result of a really indiscriminate approach to emergency housing.”
Police Minister Ginny Andersen said the Herald‘s questions about Auckland’s crime and safety would be “better suited to police” to answer.
With crime becoming an increasingly hot political topic, the Herald has looked at some recent political claims that become a little more complicated when looking at all of the data.
The mum in the hotel said she was first alerted to the incident when her son and his girlfriend ran into her room because they heard screams.
“Then all of a sudden it went quiet.”
Emergency services responded at about 7.25pm to reports of a person with serious injuries at the motel in Epsom, but a person died at the scene.
It wasn’t until the woman stepped outside that she realised the magnitude of what had unfolded below her.
“I came outside onto the balcony and had a cigarette ... and it seemed a little bit more lit up outside than it normally is.
“I just happened to look down and there were just cops everywhere. Usually every night you can hear sirens of some sort. So I did hear sirens but I didn’t realise that they were right outside.”
Another witness earlier told the Herald said they saw detectives questioning a shirtless man covered with blood at the scene.
“They’re not allowing anyone on the first floor,” she said.
“They have got the detectives downstairs underneath the car park and, we had police downstairs in the car park like walking around investigating.”
The mum said she was from out of town and was staying at the motel while her son is undergoing treatment for his cancer.
“We stayed here last week and we’re staying here again this week as well, it’s kind of too short notice to try and find somewhere else to stay for the remainder of the time, but we’re leaving tomorrow morning anyway.”
She said prior to the incident the motel felt safe and had been quiet and the people friendly.
“It’s real unfortunate, it’s really sad.”
A 19-year-old appeared in the Auckland District Court on yesterday before Judge Debra Bell via audio-visual link.
Court documents list him as living at the motel where he allegedly killed a man he knew. Judge Bell remanded the accused in custody until his next appearance in the High Court at Auckland on September 13.
Detective Senior Sergeant Scott Armstrong said the 19-year-old man and his alleged victim at the motel were known to each other and police were not seeking anyone else over the death.
“We would like to reassure the community this appears to be an isolated incident.”
Just hours before the Epsom motel death, a 70-year-old man died after suffering serious injuries at an apartment complex on Upper Queen St in central Auckland.
A 35-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman were arrested and appeared in the Auckland District Court on Thursday.
Police are now also looking for a woman they believe is helping “dangerous” 24-year-old Dariush Talagi, who is wanted for murder after a shooting on Queen St earlier this month.
Talagi is also wanted for causing grievous bodily harm after police allege he shot two people on August 3 at about 11.30pm.
Sione Tuuholoaki, 26, died in the shooting, while a second man was also critically hurt. Police have been unable to find Talagi and are also looking for public information to find 23-year-old Tiari Boon-Harris.
Seymour said he has been working with different groups, including Lifewise, the City Mission, police and local business associations in the past five years to address issues about motels being used for emergency housing.
“We’ve been trying to respect the fact that they’re really hard-up people with nowhere to go and they are victims as much as anybody, but also deal with the fact that there are [people] who are staying in some of these places or visiting people who were staying and causing great amounts of harm and disorder.”
Speaking generally about crime, Seymour said the sentencing principles needed to be revised.
“The whole principle of sentencing needs to be reformed in order that the safety of the community is considered, as well as the safety of the victim. At the moment, the principles of the Sentencing Act and section eight are largely about the offender.
“I realise that this is a much bigger problem for other people, but even just being the local MP, you know, the last three years, [I’ve been visiting] one victim after another, shop by shop dairy by dairy. You’re really at a point where we need some change, this just can’t go on.”
The solution to reducing crime divides politicians, academics and the public alike, AUT criminology lecturer Grace Gordon recently wrote that getting tough on crime only begets more violent crime.
National Party police spokesman Mark Mitchell said crime across the country was at unacceptable levels.
“Youth and juvenile offending has been fuelled by a permissive environment where there is very little consequence and a loss of respect for our police.”
Police said they would provide more details about the victims of both homicides when they were able to but were limited in providing further comment because the matters were before the courts.
Jaime Lyth is an Auckland-based reporter who covers crime. She joined the Herald in 2021 and has previously reported for The Northern Advocate.
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