Wha¯ nau speaks of killing
Court hears emotional statements in sentencing for manslaughter of Eli Holtz
The family of slain teen Eli Holtz have given emotional victim impact statements to the man jailed for seven years for the manslaughter. Myron Robert Alf Felise assaulted the 18-year-old after an incident at the intersection of Wellesley St and Queen St early on Saturday, January 27. Seconds earlier, Eli had fired a water pistol out of a car window, striking Felise on the back.
The older man advanced on Eli. He punched the teen repeatedly in the head while he was still strapped into the car. The attack only stopped when Felise’s friend intervened.
Eli died in hospital the next day. In November, Felise, 30, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced by Justice Gerard van Bohemen in the High Court at Auckland yesterday.
It was not the first time Felise had been before the courts for his part in a brutal killing. In 2008, he and six others were charged with murdering Manurewa liquor store owner Navtej Singh during a robbery. While only one — Anitilea Chan Kee — pulled the trigger, all seven were charged.
Eli’s oldest sister Chanelle Armstrong spoke first at court.
“It’s been a little over a year since we buried my brother . . . in that year I’ve had a lot of things I wanted to say to you, Myron,” she said.
“You landed six punches, six — such a small number, and such a heavy consequence. With every blow, you took something from me. Blow one, you took life . . . you decided to teach a young boy a lesson, you appointed yourself judge, jury and executioner that night and you handed out a life and death sentence.”
Armstrong said Eli was adopted into her family as a baby. He was the biological son of her aunt.
Eli’s mother Kirsten Holtz read her statement, which she wrote on the anniversary of Eli’s death. Holtz said she regularly woke at 3am, 4am and 5am. She later found out that at 3am Eli was assaulted and 4am he was resuscitated. At 5am police knocked on her door. Eli’s brutal death had also affected her work.
“I often become physically ill because I miss him. It was the nature of his death that cuts us most.”
Her other children suffered, her husband spiralled into depression.
Eli’s birth mother said: “Eli was my son, my only son, my only child. He was a gentle soul, an emotional boy — always caring and always looking after everyone else. He loved his family and he always put them first.”
Felise’s mother, said she was “humbled” to speak on behalf of her son and wanted to apologise to the Holtz family for the loss of Eli.
“Mama, papa, matua and wha¯nau — I humbly sit before you today with great regrets . . . to ask for your forgiveness.”
Defence lawyer Maria Pecotic said it was important to consider Felise’s background, saying it was not his intention to kill Eli. Pecotic said Felise believed he had been shot and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder took over, leading to the beating.
Justice van Bohemen paid tribute to the Holtz and Felise families for the dignified way they had handled the tragedy.