The devastated grandparents of a boy who was stabbed to death over a basketball cap have taken aim at a Victorian jury, telling a court they will never accept that his death was anything but murder.
WARNING: This story contains photos and details that some readers may find upsetting.
Earlier this year, jurors found Joshua Horton guilty of the manslaughter of Maaka Hakiwai, who died after being stabbed just 50 metres from his home at Kings Park, Melbourne, almost two years ago.
The 20-year-old was also found guilty of knifing his victim's brother, Nathaniel, but the jury stopped short of convicting him of Maaka's murder.
In September 2019, Maaka and Nathaniel were waiting for the bus when they were confronted by Chol Kur and an underage boy who cannot be named.
Kur, who has pleaded guilty to robbery, lunged at Nathaniel, who was wearing a Philadelphia 76ers cap, before a scuffle broke out.
At one point, the underage boy, who has also pleaded guilty to robbery, was holding Maaka in a headlock when Horton entered the fray while armed with a knife.
Horton then attacked Nathaniel with the knife, stabbing him in the thigh.
"Nathaniel thought the knife went all the way through the leg," Mr Gibson said.
Kur then took the hat and the trio fled.
The Supreme Court heard Nathaniel then called his father, Stirling Hakiwai, who was at home nearby, and told him: "We've been stabbed."
Devastated family members recall Mr Hakiwai trying to rouse his dying son, telling him: "Son, son … get up Maaka."
The court heard Maaka's injuries were so significant his internal organs were exposed.
Today, at a pre-sentence hearing for Horton, devastated family members of the two Hakiwai boys expressed their anguish.
The court was played a video of a haka performed at Maaka funeral, the warrior chants echoing throughout the high ceilings of the court.
The boys' maternal grandfather, Allen Priester, who was present by videolink from the Gold Coast, began his victim impact statement by asking not to see Maaka's killer.
"Can you take that picture of that bloke down please?" he asked Justice Andrew Tinney.
Mr Priester told the court that he continued to be haunted by the "heinous" crime.
"It was a brutal, grotesquely violent attack upon two innocent boys. And they call that manslaughter.
"We will never accept the verdict of the jury … in our eyes, it was a murder."
Their maternal grandmother, Lyn Priester, said she last saw Maaka a week before his death.
"Never in our dreams would we have thought one of our grandchildren would die before us," she said as she wept.
Their paternal grandmother, Yvonne Stirling, sang a Maori song in Maaka's honour before addressing his killer's family.
"Your family have been impacted, but your son is coming home," she wept.
"Soon, justice will be served."
The hearing continues.
