KEY POINTS:
A 16-year-old boy, who watched his 15-year-old relative bleed to death after being stabbed in the chest, gave evidence in the High Court in Auckland today.
The boy, who has name suppression, could do nothing to help Pihema Clifford Cameron, 15, who died after being stabbed in Manurewa
on January 26. They had been out earlier that night with several spray cans which they used to tag properties near Pihema's home in Mahia Road, Manurewa.
Bruce Emery, 50, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Pihema Cameron.
A jury of four men and eight women were sworn in for the trial today before Justice Hugh Williams.
During questioning by crown prosecutor Kirsten Gray, the 16-year-old boy told the court he and Pihema had been drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis earlier that day.
At about 10.15pm, they grabbed four spray cans and headed out to do some tagging along Mahia Road.
The boy said Pihema was doing a few tags as they went along, and he tried to do two. But he said he didn't know how to tag. He said he was texting his girlfriend while Pihema was doing the tags.
A man yelled out "Oi, what are you doing?" from the balcony of a house near the corner of Mahia Road and Sykes Road and the boys started racing across the road.
"I looked back to see Pihema was quite a way behind and there was a guy running out of the house.
"The man was running straight towards P ihe ma. Then Pihema fell over the kerb and got back up. He kept backing up into the middle of the road. Then Pihema said "We'll rush him" and put his hands up in a clenched fist.
" After Pihema tried to spray the man's face he looked angry. That's when I saw the knife and he started waving it at us.
"Pihema sprayed the can at him, then kept backing away . I tried to spray the man too then he lunged at me with the knife towards my abdomen.
"I just dodged that lunge and ran up the road . Then I turned around and saw his fist go into Pihema's chest.
"Pihema was on the ground and said "he got me, he stabbed me" then the guy turned around and started running back to his house. I threw my spray can at him and told him to come back .
"I ran back towards Pihema and that's when he tried to get up.
"He was stumbling across the road so I held him up from his arms. There was blood all over his pants and his shirt. He was making spurting noises like he couldn't breathe. I rang 111 and asked for an ambulance ," the boy said.
During cross examination from Chris Comeskey, the boy was asked for the name of the liquor store where he purchased the alcohol. But the boy did not know.
Mr Comeskey asked the boy to confirm that Pihema had eight to 10 KGBs pre-mix vodka drinks that day. He also asked the boy to confirm they smoked cannabis at the beach for over an hour.
He questioned the boy about the decision they made to go out tagging after 10.15pm in Mahia Road.
The boy said he didn't believe Pihema had sprayed on Emery's garage door because there was a security light on. But Emery had told police he wiped a tag off his garage door which was one to two metres wide.
The boy said it would have taken Pihema at least two minutes to do it and they weren't there for that long. He said he wasn't very intoxicated and he thought it had worn off by then.
The trial is expected to continue for most of the week.
- NZPA
