‘Nevaeh would still be alive’: the grandparents called the police after Aaron Izett’s assault, but he killed Nevaeh Ager in Maketu the next day.

Aaron Izlett hit John Sturgess so hard that it left dark bruises on the old man’s arms. He and his wife called the police about Izett’s erratic behavior and wanted their help in getting their great-granddaughter, Izett’s daughter, Nevaeh Ager, out of the house. They were told that the police could not intervene because they were not Nevaeh’s legal guardians. Izett killed the 2-year-old boy the next day.

The great-grandparents of a girl beaten to death believe she would still be alive if a police operator had acted on her desperate phone call for help, the day before the child was killed.

The Herald understands that the Independent Police Conduct Authority has investigated a complaint about his phone call prior to Nevaeh Ager’s death and the findings are critical of the police communications center.

Nevaeh Ager, 2, was found dead in an estuary near Maketu in the Bay of Plenty in March last year. His 38-year-old father Aaron Izett pleaded not guilty to insanity murder, but was convicted this week after a jury trial in Rotorua High Court.

Izett was also convicted of assaulting John Sturgess, Nevaeh’s great-grandfather, in a heated confrontation the day before Nevaeh was killed.

He hit the man hard enough to bruise his upper arm and face, then threw rocks at his car as they left.

Sturgess and his wife Niki were so frightened by Izett’s erratic behavior that he was “ranting and delusional” and concerned for Nevaeh’s safety that they drove directly to the nearest police station in Te Puke.

The station was closed, so they called and spoke to an operator at the police communications center.

The Sturges, who are from Hawke’s Bay, wanted the police to help them get Nevaeh out of the house, but they were told that the police couldn’t intervene because they weren’t her legal guardians.

They were told to raise their concerns with Nevaeh’s mother, Alyson Ager, her granddaughter, who was the girl’s legal guardian.

However, Alyson Ager was still in Tauranga Hospital receiving a blood transfusion after the emergency birth of her second child.

After spending the night in the hospital, Alyson returned to Little Waihi the next day with her great-grandparents and their new baby. They came home to find police on the property and learned that Nevaeh was dead.

“We needed help and they told us to go to the hospital,” John Sturgess told the Herald.

“Hindsight is always 20/20 I guess, but Nevaeh would still be alive [if the police had acted sooner]. Everything has been so traumatic for our family. “

The Herald may reveal that the Independent Police Conduct Authority investigated the phone call prior to Nevaeh’s death, and a source said the police watchdog’s findings criticized the communications center’s response.

The Sturgess have yet to get an explanation from the police about what happened and said they needed answers.

A spokeswoman for the New Zealand Police said no comment could be made until the judicial process was concluded when Izett was sentenced.

Warren Young, the general manager of IPCA, confirmed that the watchdog had investigated the events that led to Nevaeh’s death.

The report would be made public, but only after the appeal period ends following Izett’s sentencing on the murder conviction next year.

“I can’t comment more.”

Aaron Izett was convicted yesterday of Nevaeh’s murder, assaulting John Sturgess and intentionally wounding a police officer by biting the officer. He was found not guilty of injuring a neighbor with the intent to cause serious bodily harm.

Izett accepted that he caused the fatal injuries, but denied that he had murderous intentions, as he had a mental illness.

Crown’s case was that there was no evidence that Izett was suffering from mental illness at the time, and no evidence to support an insanity defense. The attack on Nevaeh was the result of a “meth rage.”

Pathologist Rexson Tse gave evidence that Nevaeh suffered multiple bruises and abrasions on almost her entire body caused by a weapon or weapons.

He said he could have received 70 to 80 blows to his body, including at least 10 or possibly up to 20 to the boy’s head and a torn ligament in his neck.

After Izett assaulted his daughter, he placed her naked body face down in the water over mudflats and placed two large rocks on top of her.

Crown prosecutor Kieran Raftery QC told jury that Izett’s violent assault on his daughter and the multiple injuries inflicted on her were “brutal in the extreme.”

Raftery said that Nevaeh had suffered a “severe reign of terror” from Izett’s sustained attack and that the force employed “spoke volumes” about his intention to kill her.

Defense attorney Julie-Anne Kincade QC argued that Izett lacked the necessary intent to be found guilty of murder, or should be found not guilty on grounds of insanity.

He said there was evidence from eyewitnesses, medical reports and other signs that Izett was suffering from psychosis, given his erratic behavior and being “out of touch with reality.”

Kincade said Izett’s methamphetamine use did not explain his strange behavior and that there were clearly other things on his mind that were not related to drug use.

She said the defense alleged that Izett was “suffering from a mental illness” at the time and was unable to understand that his actions were morally wrong.

Izett reported hearing voices, including a female voice threatening to kill him, and was having hallucinations and grandiose thoughts about his wealth and “being a prophet.”

He also told the jury that the defendant had also thought that the police were trying to poison him.

“When you look at all the evidence, there is absolutely no evidence that Mr. Izett intended to kill his daughter, but whatever was going through his mind was not logical.”

Izett will be sentenced on February 3 in the Tauranga Superior Court.

– Additional report Sandra Conchie