The teen, who was granted interim name suppression, was supported in the Hamilton District Court by her parents seated in the public gallery.
She was granted bail and will appear in the High Court next week.
“What could any child do to deserve a death like that? I can’t say much more in case I jeopardise the case, but even the Coroner and the undertakers were traumatised,” the grandmother said.
She told the Herald her granddaughter was “a bit of a tomboy” and enjoyed being outdoors like her mother. She loved animals, especially horses and the grandmother’s dog.
“[The toddler] loved bouncing on the trampoline as well. She was just a 2-year-old, a happy little 2-year-old. She was a bubbly little girl who liked everything a normal 2-year-old does.”
The grandmother said her book-loving granddaughter also enjoyed playing in her “fairy garden” which had treasure chests full of rings from the two-dollar shop.
“She’d always go in there and nick them and all of a sudden more and more [jewellery] would be gone every time she’d visit.”
The grandmother said the time since her granddaughter’s death has been a waiting game for closure and answers.
“You’re never going to get closure though - you’re never going to know, regardless of what comes out in the court, why somebody would do that.”
The grandmother said the toddler’s mum, the grandmother’s daughter, was only 20 and now mourning her only child.
“For her to have suffered such a loss at such a young age, not that there is such a great age to lose somebody, but that was her only child, it’s tragic.”
Yearly milestones and celebrations would be difficult for the family, the grandmother said, as the reality of her granddaughter’s passing sets in.
“This will be the first Christmas without her and in January it will be her birthday, but without any birthday presents. It’s going through a year of first ‘everythings’ without her.”
The toddler brought the family close together when she was born, and everybody was involved in her life, the grandmother said.
“And now we don’t have that.”
The grandmother said the tragic death of the toddler was sending her on a new life path, as she was inspired to help prevent further cases like this in future.
“Now I want to be a victim advocate because New Zealand statistics on child abuse are out the gate.
“It’s just not good enough for this country, it really isn’t. If only one person’s voice, or many voices, can band together and say ‘this is not okay’ and stand up against this.”
Police have said the toddler died in hospital on April 9 after the occupants of a vehicle flagged down a patrol car on Heaphy Tce seeking help with an unresponsive child.
A scene examination was done at the child’s home and an autopsy was conducted.
The accused woman’s application for bail, which was opposed by police, was granted by Judge Robert Spear but with multiple conditions, including a 24-hour curfew, not to contact three people, and to surrender her passport. She was remanded without plea to a Bay of Plenty property.
Police earlier acknowledged the death was a tragedy but were unable to comment further while the case was before the courts.
The grandmother said she found it extremely difficult to cope with the loss.
“People say, ‘at least you have memories’, but two years of memories when they don’t live with you full-time is not a great deal to cling on to.
“I would like to have faith in the justice system,” she said.
