The Press
January 9 2007

Homicide inquiry
by Jo McKenzie-McLean

A young homicide victim was a shy child with a "great big smile" and a loving nature, but was teased at school because she was black and sounded different, say people who knew her.

Charlene Makaza, 10, died in Christchurch Hospital on Sunday morning after apparently being suffocated at her home in the Christchurch suburb of Bryndwr.

Police say a pathologist's report shows Charlene was suffocated by "a second person" and they are treating her death as a homicide.

Charlene was found with breathing difficulties in her bed on Saturday by her aunt and uncle at their home in Hollyford Avenue.

Her condition deteriorated through the day and she died without regaining consciousness.

Wairakei School principal Lee McArthur said Charlene's death was a tragedy.

"It's just awful. You just don't expect these things to happen," McArthur said.

"Charlene was a friendly, kind and helpful pupil. She found it cold here but had adjusted. She was happy at school, she had friends at school and was really well liked by everybody."

She played netball, sang in the choir and particularly enjoyed helping out younger children, McArthur said. "Charlene loved to talk and was always ready to share her stories with a good dose of humour. She was a good person with a great big smile and we will all miss her."

The girls' adoptive parents had been supportive in their niece's learning, McArthur said.

"Naturally, she had come from a different culture and different style of learning and English was her second language," McArthur said.

"She had extra tuition and her aunt was very supportive of that. We talked about Charlene and her learning quite often. We would see them quite regularly."

School friend and neighbour Karanimata Swete, 10, said Charlene was energetic and "not boring like other people".

"We just played netball and played on the monkey bars together. And we'd walk to school together," she said.

"She said she had come from Zimbabwe and said she really liked it over in New Zealand -- better than Zimbabwe."

Some of the pupils could be mean to Charlene at times, she said. "People at school gave her a hard time because she was black and came from another country and just because her voice was so low."

Pastor Thomas Gonera said Charlene regularly attended church.

"She was quite a happy, warm, loving little girl. She would play with other kids. She was also involved with child evangelism, where a group of children learn the Bible and all sorts of things," he said.

"She really enjoyed being here, making new friends from different nationalities. She enjoyed school and spoke a lot about her teacher and how many friends she was making."

Detective Inspector Malcolm Johnston said an extensive scene examination had ruled out the possibility that an intruder had broken into the house.

Charlene was living at the house with her 12-year-old sister, aunt and uncle, and two adult cousins, aged 20 and 24. They were all in the house when she was found.

Her parents died in Zimbabwe when she was young, and she and her sister immigrated over a year ago. Her adoptive family had been in Christchurch for about three years.

The pathologist's report yesterday found she had been suffocated, Johnston said. "He's of the view it's not natural and (injuries) have been inflicted by a second person," he said.

"I've got 40 detectives working long hours on the death of a 10-year-old girl who did not die of natural causes, who did not die by accident and who died, as the pathologist has said, by suspected suffocation. Therefore it is a homicide inquiry."

There was no evidence to suggest she had been sick or ill, he said. Further tests would be done to determine the cause of Charlene's death.

He would not comment on whether she had been sexually assaulted. "We don't want to get into any other aspects of the investigation. There are so many things we've got to establish."

Neighbour Gavin Caldwell said many of the neighbours had been scared for their families since the killing. "We are all just wanting answers."

Neighbour Corey Bryan, 17, said his family had been "freaked out" by the death.

"Mum went over to the police and asked if it was safe for her two daughters to be at home with some maniac on the loose killing people," he said.

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CAPTION:

Killed: a pathologist's report says Charlene Makaza, 10, was suffocated in her Christchurch home last weekend "by a second person". No intruder, police say