Kaci Tauroa appeared for sentencing in the Taupō District Court on April 29 and was jailed for dangerous driving causing the death of her 10-year-old brother Jax.
“I wish I could swap places with my brother.”
Those were the words of Kaci Tauroa, a young woman who drove dangerously and crashed, killing her 10-year-old brother Jax Tauroa-Wall.
Tauroa’s letter was provided to Judge Greg Hollister-Jones and referred to by her lawyer Racheal Raukawa, who said no sentence could compare to the lifelong sentence the now 24-year-old imposed on herself.
The letter went on to say; “He deserved the world, he deserved to be living right now, he was so loved. I love him and miss him every single day”.
As Raukawa read that portion of the letter in the Taupō District Court today, Tauroa wept in the dock.
A victim impact statement from Jax’s father spoke of the immense loss, and the shock of learning his dearly loved boy had been killed in the crash.
It had been “299 days” since he received the news that “turned his world upside down” and left him screaming into a mattress and punching the ground so hard he fractured his knuckle.
“Jax was full of life, laughter, love, and kindness,” he said in his victim impact statement.
“He was clever, talented, cheeky, and had a huge, bright smile.”
And he had been more than just a much-loved son.
“He was my best friend, my right-hand man, my apprentice, and my future hunting and fishing mate.”
The statement said he still wished he could “wake up and find out it was only a nightmare”.
Tauroa and Jax had been in Tauranga on July 4, 2025, where Tauroa purchased a Toyota that had an air conditioning fault, which caused the windows to mist.
As she drove her brother back to Tūrangi that evening, it was a cold, rainy, winter night.
She was driving between Hatepe and Motutere on State Highway 1, the road was wet, and driving conditions were poor.
The air conditioning fault, combined with the weather conditions, caused the windscreen to fog.
Tauroa was noted by other road users to be tailgating other vehicles, to the point that her headlights were not visible in the rear-view mirrors of the vehicles being tailed.
Tauroa overtook a Ford Ranger at the same time a fully-loaded car transporter was travelling in the northbound lane, which the summary of facts said was “inherently unsafe”.
She completed the passing manoeuvre while approaching a blind right-hand bend.
As she entered the bend, she was travelling at more than 120km/h, causing her to lose control and crash into the truck.
It was about 7.30pm, and the 10-year-old boy died at the scene.
An injured Tauroa was taken to hospital, and a blood sample showed cannabis in her system.
She was also driving on a restricted licence, which didn’t allow her to take passengers.
Crown prosecutor Anna McConachy pointed to a number of aggravating factors the court ought to take into account, including the tailgating, passing on a blind corner, speed, consumption of cannabis, and driving contrary to licence conditions.
“There was a particularly high breach of trust given the passenger in the car was her 10-year-old brother,” McConachy said.
She submitted his young age needed to be taken into account, in terms of the “high level of harm” caused.
The Crown sought a starting point of five years’ imprisonment.
McConachy accepted a 25% discount was appropriate for Tauroa’s early guilty plea, as well as a small discount for remorse.
McConachy said there had been comments made to a pre-sentence report writer that seemed to dispute matters related to her “manner of driving”.
However, the report writer had surmised this could have been down to immaturity.
Raukawa told the judge Tauroa was deeply remorseful, had ongoing mental health impacts and had even had suicidal thoughts.
She said the faulty air conditioning contributed to the crash, but said Tauroa accepted she should have pulled over to try and address the misted windows.
“But you don’t overtake on a blind bend with foggy windows,” replied the judge.
“No, and that’s accepted,” Raukawa said.
Raukawa submitted total discounts should amount to 40%, and asked for a lower starting point, which could allow a sentence of home detention to be considered.
Judge Hollister-Jones began the hearing with a karakia, and said from the outset that sentencings of this nature were particularly difficult, noting the tragic loss was immeasurable and nothing the court did could “bring back Jax”.
He considered the aggravating features included her consumption of cannabis and driving on a restricted licence with a passenger.
“This was a prolonged course of very bad driving,” he said.
It was one of the most challenging pieces of State Highway 1 and, in his view, it was a dangerous piece of road that needed to be driven cautiously.
In this case, Tauroa had overtaken on a 25km/h speed advisory sign, which “was madness”.
It was night, the driving conditions were poor, and her bad driving had included “aggressive driving” – referring to the tailgating.
He also considered it aggravating that she had not adjusted her driving and slowed down, given the air conditioning fault.
He also noted the breach of trust and immense harm caused.
“Whilst death is inherent in the charge, I have heard about the devastating loss Jax’s death has caused,” the judge said.
He set a starting point of four years and six months’ imprisonment.
The judge accepted Tauroa was genuinely remorseful but gave a limited 5% discount for remorse, given she had told the pre-sentence report writer she regularly drove her brothers and sisters, despite her restricted licence.
Judge Hollister-Jones had received letters that supported Tauroa’s previous good character, and he considered she had strong prospects of rehabilitation, giving her a 5% discount for those factors.
He also gave a 5% discount for the shock she endured upon learning her much-loved brother had died.
She received an overall discount of 40%, leading to an end sentence of two years and eight months’ imprisonment, and was disqualified from driving for two years.
Supporters could be heard weeping in the public gallery after her sentence was handed down.
Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.