A mother whose teenage daughter died after getting into a car with a drunk driver is speaking out before the driver’s sentencing, warning that dangerous attitudes to drink-driving remain ingrained in rural communities.
Faith Rapana’s family is still reeling from the loss of her 16-year-old daughter, who jumped into a moving car to try to stop a relative from driving drunk.
She said her daughter had the makings of a leader in her community and was a “change-maker”. The weight of the tragedy is something she can barely put into words, but she wants to share her story before the driver faces court tomorrow.
Pace Kukutai-Tumata, who was 20 at the time of the crash and is now 21, pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle in a dangerous manner, driving with excess breath alcohol causing injury and driving with excess breath alcohol causing death.
Ani-Kurangi Taueki-Lanig-Paretene-Rapana-Shortcliffe, known as Ani, died on May 31, 2025, at Auckland City Hospital.
The day before, she had been at an unveiling with Kukutai-Tumata, who is her cousin.
Court documents said Kukutai-Tumata, who was on a learner’s licence, was involved in an “altercation” before he ran to his car and tried to drive away.
He later told police he had drunk “three or four big bottles of beer” before getting behind the wheel.
Ani and another passenger entered the car as it was moving, trying to get him to stop.
Instead of stopping the vehicle, Kukutai-Tumata sped up. He estimated he was travelling at 120km/h down Tuakau Bridge-Port Waikato Rd.
He crossed the centre line, forcing other motorists to take evasive action.
Kukutai-Tumata eventually lost control of the car and crashed. Ani and the other passenger were partially ejected from the car and crushed.
The other passenger had “serious injuries to their left side” and Ani was left fighting for her life.
Kukutai-Tumata later told police he drove away in anger.
He was charged in October and pleaded guilty the following month. He fought for suppression, arguing that naming him would cause extreme hardship and endanger his safety, citing social media posts calling for vigilante justice.
However, he lost his appeal in the High Court last week and can now be identified.
Rapana said she was in a meeting in Whangārei when she got a call from her niece.
“I didn’t think much of it because it was a Friday and I thought she just wanted some money, so I ignored the call.
“And then the calls kept coming, and then when I called back, there was no answer.”
When Rapana learned her daughter had been in a car accident, the reality still did not hit her.
“I thought, ‘Oh, maybe they’ve just crashed into a fence at the shop. I can deal with that after I finish my meeting’.”
Her daughter’s father was waiting for Rapana outside her meeting, and only then did she realise how serious it was.
He did not tell her at the time, but moments earlier he had watched a video of Ani lying motionless by the side of the road.
Rapana began calling her family but no one picked up her calls. The messages were left on read.
She did not know anything about her daughter’s condition until she arrived at the hospital and saw her body covered in wires and tubes. The doctors said her daughter was brain-dead.
Rapana said her family had a home near the crash site and one of her sons ran to the scene, witnessing the car being lifted off Ani’s body.
“He’s dealing with a lot from that. He’s really struggling.”
When asked why her daughter got into the car with a driver whom she knew had been drinking, Rapana said she was told her daughter was looking out for her cousin.
“We’ve always been told from the very day that it happened that she was getting in the car to stop him from driving off. That’s why she was in the back of the car.”
She described Ani as a future change-maker, deeply respected at her marae and a leader among her peers.
Her daughter was proud of her culture, Rapana said. Māori was her favourite subject at Onewhero Area School and she was part of the school’s kapa haka group.
“She was the kind of person who brought people together,” Rapana said.
Ani was also a skilled pig hunter who cherished time with friends and whānau.
Rapana said Ani, the second youngest of 10 children, had her older siblings “wrapped around her little finger”.
She would have turned 17 last September. Rapana said that birthday had been “so painful” as she thought about the woman her daughter was becoming.
“She was going to do so much with her life. She was going to be a leader, someone. And now it’s all gone.”
Rapana wanted to challenge the normalisation of drink-driving in rural communities, where people still treated driving home from the pub after a few beers as acceptable.
“Young people copied what they saw from their parents. It was so common.
“No one was learning from the mistakes.”
Kukutai-Tumata is due to be sentenced in the Manukau District Court tomorrow.