- Shannon’s worst nightmare came true when her 11-year-old daughter, Emma-Jane, was struck and killed by a driver who fled the scene.
- The driver had been speeding at up to 105km/h, on drugs and alcohol, and had crashed into multiple vehicles before fatally hitting Emma-Jane.
- Now, Emma-Jane’s family are fighting for tougher penalties and justice, launching a petition and honouring her memory through community support.
Here Shannon Davis, 37, Hastings, NZ tells her own story in her own words.
Sprinkling cheese on top of the lasagne, my daughter Emma-Jane, 11, smiled.
‘Thank you, baby,’ I said, sliding the tray into the oven.
It was January this year and my kids, Kayla, 19, Raiden, 17, Saige, 15, Emma-Jane and Chevy-King, seven, had just had their first day back at school.
Thick as thieves, the kids would spend hours in the kitchen baking cakes or making dumplings for me and their dad, George, 41.
We’d split six years ago but remained close friends.
Today, Kayla and Emma-Jane were helping me with dinner.
While I was washing dishes around 5.20pm, Emma-Jane asked if she and Saige could go to the shops.
They’d saved their pocket money for a treat.
‘As long as you’re back in time for dinner,’ I nodded.
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The corner store was only four minutes away, and they’d made the trip before, so I knew they would be careful.
‘Look both ways before you cross the road, and be safe,’ I said. ‘I love you my babies.’
‘We promise!’ Saige replied.
‘Love you too, Mum,’ Emma-Jane called, as she grabbed her helmet and hi-vis vest, so she could cycle, and headed for the door. Saige followed closely behind.
Ten minutes later, a friend called.
‘There’s been an accident. There’s been a run in with a car,’ they said, explaining Saige was involved.
They’d heard the crash.
Feeling sick, I dropped everything and ran straight out the door with the older kids in tow.
George, who was there with me, followed too.
Chevy-King stayed home with an older friend.
As I approached the site, I could see a small group of people gathered on the grass on the side of the road, including Saige, who was crying.
For a second, relief flooded through me. She was okay.
‘Where’s Emma-Jane?’ I asked her.
When I spotted her crumpled black and purple bike on the grass, I knew something terrible had happened.
Then I saw her – my baby girl lying on the ground as strangers desperately administered CPR to try and revive her.
I rushed to my daughter’s side to hold her hand.
I felt as though my heart spilt in two as I fell to the ground…my precious girl was gone.
I could hear sirens approaching, but all I could focus on was my little girl.
I knew that, while my beloved girl’s body was here, her spirit was quickly fading.
As George appeared by my side, I whispered silent prayers.
Paramedics approached and took over the CPR while police blocked off the street.
‘Save my daughter,’ I cried, over and over.
‘I’m so sorry, she has passed,’ they told me gently.
I felt as though my heart split in two as I fell to the ground. My precious girl was gone.
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Kayla, Raiden and Saige took turns saying goodbye, and George kissed her.
As Emma-Jane was taken to hospital, police officers told me she’d been hit by a car. But their words barely registered.
Back at home, nothing felt right without my daughter.
I was convinced it’d been a dream and she’d walk back in the door at any moment.
The next day the police prosecutor came to visit.
Nothing felt right without my daughter
‘The driver was drunk when she hit Emma-Jane,’ he said, adding that her breath test revealed she had 595 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath – far beyond the legal limit of 400 micrograms.
They also revealed she’d reached estimated speeds of up to 105km/h in a 50km zone in the time leading up to colliding with Emma-Jane’s bike, narrowly missing Saige.
My little girl had been thrown 25 metres from the impact.
Horrifyingly, the driver, who was a mum herself, had callously fled instead of checking on my girl.
How could she be so heartless? I thought, seeing red.
The kids struggled with the grief in their own ways. Saige suffered constant nightmares, while Chevy-King, who was closest to Emma-Jane, became a shadow of his bubbly outgoing self.
Every day we visited the site where Emma-Jane took her last breath. Flowers and gifts piled up there from kind locals.
On February 4, her funeral day, community members lined the streets, releasing balloons, singing and praying.
It was so beautiful.
We’ve kept Emma-Jane’s ashes at the house so we are together as a family.
In May this year, the court heard that the driver, Terina Pineaha, had been drinking and smoking methamphetamine since 10am on the day Emma-Jane was killed.
Enraged over her partner’s suspected affair, she’d damaged a woman’s car at his home by deliberately driving into the rear of the vehicle, before speeding off.
She’d rear-ended a van at a roundabout and then narrowly missed another car as she drove off, down the wrong lane.
Seconds later, she’d fatally struck my daughter.
She admitted charges of manslaughter, consuming methamphetamine, driving with excess breath alcohol, dangerous driving, failing to stop, and wilful damage.
Sickeningly, the mother-of-five was already serving a one-year sentence of supervision for possessing methamphetamine, and other charges.
In July, I was joined by my whole family at the High Court in Napier for the sentencing.
Proudly wearing a shirt with Emma-Jane’s face, I stared directly at Pineaha as I read aloud my victim impact statement.
‘You didn’t just kill our baby. You took a sister, cousin, niece, friend and moko [young child] away that was loved endlessly by so many,’ I read, tearfully.
‘Our daughter was a beautiful, spiritual, headstrong child. She was quiet at times, loved her animé movies and cooking – a beautiful child who should have lived her adult years and got to grow old with her siblings, to one day have her own whanau [family], accomplish all of her dreams and live her best life. But you took that away from her.’
Unable to look me in the eye, Pineaha just sat with her head in her hands.
Finally, Terina Pineaha, 34, was sentenced by Justice Dale La Hood to four years and five months in prison.
My daughter’s life is worth more than this, I thought, outraged.
But I also felt relief that, behind bars, her killer couldn’t hurt anyone else.
On July 10, what would have been Emma-Jane’s 12th birthday, we went down to the site where she died and released balloons.
My family and I have since created a petition to urge the judge and the court to increase Pineaha’s sentence.
To date, it has over 5000 signatures of support.
Though I know nothing can bring her back, I want my little girl’s life to make a difference.
I want to enact change, so no other family faces this pain.
Until then I’ll never stop fighting for justice.
To sign the petition, visit www.change.org/p/real-justice-for-emma-jane
To donate to the family:
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