Murder accused: ‘I did not do this’
A woman accused of fatally stabbing her partner says he was a meth-addicted gang prospect with a temper, but that she loved and never hurt him.
Kia-ara Richardson, 23, is accused of murdering Peter Hemi, 23, during an argument in a car outside their home on McDonald St in Ashburton on November 8, 2019, when she was 19.
It is alleged she stabbed him in the back of the neck as she sat in the back seat behind him.
Hemi, a father of three children – a 7-year-old, a 5-year-old, and a 2-weekold baby he met for the first time just three days before his death – was found critically injured in a pool of blood and died shortly afterwards.
Richardson took the witness stand to give evidence at her trial at the High Court at Christchurch yesterday.
“I did not do this, I was absolutely devastated when Peter died, he was the love of my life”, she told the jury.
When asked about the Crown’s allegations that Richardson stabbed Hemi after a drunken argument, she said she never laid a finger on him.
“I loved him with every single ounce of everything … he was like a god to me, I would never hurt him.”
Richardson was found with a Hunting and Fishing knife in her handbag after being arrested by police days after Hemi’s death.
She said she kept it for protection after being accused of her partner’s murder, and that his DNA may have got on it from him playing with it previously.
She declined to be on video during her police interview because “I was an absolute state, I hadn’t brushed my hair, showered or eaten.
“I didn’t want to do anything … I wanted to just sit in one spot until I withered away, I felt like I had no one else left in the world, the one person I had was gone … Peter.”
While waiting to be interviewed at Christchurch police station, Richardson wrote a letter which police found in her cell. She began to cry as she read a portion of it to the court.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you ... I can’t stop replaying your final breaths, I can’t stop replaying the memory of you dying in my arms, baby I love you forever, my flame for you will never die.”
Richardson told the jury that Hemi was a prospect for the Nomads gang. He was known by the nickname Blaze and was rarely called Peter by his friends. Her family was involved with the Black Power gang, she said.
“If he was being an asshole I’d call him Peter, to kind of get under his skin.”
Richardson said Blaze and Peter were like two different people.
“Blaze was very lovely. He was kind, compassionate and very gentle. He had a lot of patience for me.
“Peter had a short temper, he would lash out and say nasty things out of nowhere. He was slightly violent, but not towards me, more towards everything around him, and if I was there I was collateral.”
Hemi would be Blaze most days, but Peter would come out when he’d been drinking, she said.
He had “a bit of a meth habit” and would get angry with her when she didn’t know where his pipe was, she added. He smoked every day and had racked up a $5000 debt they couldn’t pay.
One morning after waking up Hemi threw a knife at her head and caused her to bleed for no reason, she said.
He then went back to sleep and had no memory of what he’d done when he woke up.
She remembered him first introducing her to his mum and saying “this is my new girlfriend, she’s the one … all I remember is his big cheesy smile.”
Richardson’s evidence will continue today when she will also be crossexamined by Crown prosecutor Andrew McRae.
This will be followed by closing addresses and Justice Cameron Mander’s summing up, after which the jury will retire to deliberate their verdict.