Teddies and flowers mark 5 years of life
Tributes adorn a Union St tree in Rotorua with teddies and flowers. Underneath it garden lights are stuck in the ground with messages written on them. Opposite is the house he lived in before sustaining fatal injuries.
Old Town Road and Shark Doo, Doo, Doo were his favourite songs. Green and blue were his favourite colours, the messages read.
This week police began a homicide inquiry into the death on Saturday of 5-year-old Ferro James Sio.
His father, William James Sio, 24, has been charged with assaulting a child and police have indicated further charges are likely.
A person close to the family, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the relationship between William and Ferro.
She said Ferro was a “happy-golucky, full of joy, bubbly little soul,” who loved and cherished his cousins just as they loved and cherished him.
“Ferro’s family in Rotorua miss him so much and are so lost not having him around,” she said.
“We love you, baby boy, thank you for entering our lives.”
The father and son lived at a property the Ministry of Social Development has confirmed was social housing.
Four adults and Ferro lived in one half of the property.
A woman told the Rotorua Daily Post she was often at the property because her partner lived in one of the other rooms.
Speaking anonymously, she said she would change everything if she could go back in time.
Through tears, she said she could not believe the little boy had died, and though she didn’t hear anything on
Saturday night, she wished she had done something.
Through broken sentences she sobbed, as she had for the past few days, and said what had happened hit harder because she was a mother of five.
“It’s really hit us hard, knowing the boy died and we were here.”
She was at the property on Friday and Saturday night and had not heard a thing until she was woken by police at 1.30am.
“It was all a shock to us . . . We didn’t hear a thing until the cops woke us up,” she said.
Neighbour Kamaea Green, who lived in the other half of the house with her partner and 3-year-old, said her mind was reeling.
The family were home on Saturday night but Green was not aware of anything untoward happening until she was questioned by police.
She said the father and son had moved in only about a month ago and it took her and her family a while to realise there was a child living there because she had seen him there only once.
Her daughter had placed one of her teddies by the tree outside the property.
Newman Kaur, another neighbour, said she did not see anything suspicious and the incident had left them “shocked”.
She said she saw the police tape when she left for work but only found out a homicide investigation was under way after reading the news.
“The death of this little boy is extremely distressing,” said Oranga Tamariki North deputy chief executive services for children and families Glynis Sandland.
She said the agency was not able to comment further due to the ongoing police investigation.
Sio is due to reappear in court on March 3.