Justice for shooting victim

Rex Ji Terangi Daley, 32, was sentenced to 8½ years jail. PHOTOS/GIANINA SCHWANECKE

Daley went into ‘kill mode’ for lover

Gunman gets eight years, accomplice three years

The victim of a shooting in Kuripuni in December 2018, who lost a leg, said she was “rapt” with the sentences handed down to the gunman and his accomplice in the Wellington High Court on Friday. GIANINA SCHWANECKE reports.

An apology to the woman who lost her leg in a “meth-fuelled” shooting in Kuripuni in late-2018, was “too little, too late”, the Crown prosecutor told the High Court at Wellington on Friday.

Rex Ji Terangi Daley, 32, appeared for sentencing on one charge each of reckless discharge of a firearm, causing grievous bodily harm with intent, and aggravated burglary – the latter two of which are both third strike offences that carry a maximum penalty of 14 years jail.

His former partner Tiana Maree Walker-Dahlberg, 31, also appeared facing one charge of aggravated burglary, for her part in the December 2018 shooting.

Their victim, 30-year-old Masterton woman Jamie Nepia, who lost a leg as a result of the shooting, read an emotional impact statement in which she said, “sometimes I think it would be easier if Daley had aimed a bit higher and I wasn’t here anymore”.

Daley apologised to Nepia, telling her that he “did wrong” and had “messed up her life”.

“If I could take it back I would,” he said.

But Crown prosecutor Grant Burston said no credit should be given for remorse or rehabilitative capability after the “meth-fuelled rampage” which had “wrecked [Nepia’s] body and her life”.

The charges related to a Dixon St shooting on the night of December 2, 2018.

After an altercation earlier that day with a relative of Walker-Dahlberg’s former partner, with whom she was in a custody dispute, the then-couple, and Walker-Dahlberg’s cousin Aaron Takamore, set off to confront them at a house in Kuripuni.

The relative threatened to fight Daley, at first believing him to only be carrying a bat.

However, he fled to the backyard when he heard Daley cock the shotgun – a sound he immediately recognised.

Daley followed him on to the property while Walker-Dahlberg yelled at some of the other family members gathered before getting back in the car.

Daley returned to find them banging on the windows and hit one of them with the barrel of his gun.

Nepia tried to intervene at which point Daley fired the shotgun into her left leg causing her to fall to the ground bleeding.

He fired one final shot which hit an occupied bedroom in the house before the trio fled in the car.

Nepia was later flown to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

She declined to read her victim impact statement during Daley’s sentencing and instead read it in front of Walker-Dahlberg.

It was an emotional read for the mother-of-six, who said she not only lost her leg and independence but also her children.

“I am totally reliant on people to look after me and will be a burden to my family for the rest of my life.”

She spoke of the activities she used to enjoy with her children like dancing, swimming, and playing basketball, and how she could no longer do that.

She also spoke of the 12-hour surgery to save her life followed by a 15-hour surgery a few weeks later to save her leg, involving a skin graft from her back and connecting a nerve from her right leg.

It failed, causing her leg to be amputated above the knee.

“When I see [my leg and scars] I feel ugly,” she told the court through tears.

Burston said Daley was a “patched and high-ranking member of the Nomads gang” at the time, and had spent most of the past 15 years in jail for other violent crimes.

“[He has] a high likelihood of reoffending.”

Daley’s defence lawyer Steve Winter said his background was not one where an understanding of remorse would come easily.

Daley had been impacted by a difficult upbringing where violence and gang culture were significant influences, he said.

Since the shooting, Daley’s patch remained with police and he was attempting to move on, Winter said.

“It’s in all of our interests that he be encouraged to try.”

Justice Rebecca Ellis said she accepted Daley’s upbringing and resulting substance abuse and mental health issues – including a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and schizophrenia – had contributed to the shooting.

“In your own words, you went into ‘kill mode’ because you thought they had hurt Walker-Dahlberg who you loved,” she said.

She offered a 15 per cent discount for his show of remorse, guilty pleas, and upbringing, sentencing him to 8½ years imprisonment with no minimum jail period.

Walker-Dahlberg’s upbringing in comparison could not be considered a similar mitigating factor, she said during her sentencing.

Her defence lawyer Mike Antunovic said the mother-of-three was not armed with a shotgun and never intended that anyone was shot.

However, Burston said it was her family dispute and her role in that which led on to the shooting.

“Her reaction and involvement is what superseded the violence by Daley.”

Justice Ellis agreed, saying she shared responsibility for setting in motion the chain of events which led to the shooting.

She sentenced Walker-Dahlberg to three years imprisonment, offering an 18-month discount for some personal circumstances and a guilty plea.

Takamore was recently resentenced to 15 months jail on a charge of aggravated burglary for acting as the couple’s driver on the day of the shooting after an earlier sentence of home detention failed.

All three offenders were issued with a three strikes warning, meaning that if they were convicted of a third violent offence, they would receive the maximum available sentence without parole.

Speaking outside the court after the sentencings, Nepia said she was “rapt” with the result.

“Daley fired the shot but Walker-Dahlberg [metaphorically] handed him the gun.”