The grieving aunt of a little boy who was allegedly bludgeoned to death by a woman he lived with will mourn the tragic loss with a tattoo tribute.
Chanell King, 20, the younger sister of her nine-year-old nephew’s incarcerated mother Tiarne Ned, said she hopes to remember Thai-Li Ned with permanent ink on her body.
‘Yeah maybe I’ll get a tattoo to remember him by,’ she told Daily Mail Australia outside the Kirwan home where he was living in prior to his death.
‘My other tattoos are ones I got in jail.’
Ms King said her older sister Tiarne, who is currently imprisoned until April, was struggling to come to terms with her son’s sudden death.
‘She’s not doing okay at the moment,’ Ms King said.
‘We’re all trying to wrap our heads around what happened.. why anyone would ever hurt him.
‘He was bright, active and mostly funny.’
Thai-li was found dead inside a home in the Townsville suburb of Kirwan, about 7.10pm on Saturday after suffering a ‘significant head injury’.
Chanell King (pictured left), Ranita (centre) and friend Aileen pictured outside Thai-li’s shrine in Kirwan
Nine-year-old Thai-li Ned (pictured) was found dead in a Townsville home on Saturday night
Schynada Karkadoo, 24, was charged over the boy’s alleged murder and had a ‘loose’ family connection with him, according to police.
The events that led to him being allegedly killed by a blow to the head are being investigated by detectives, who are looking at whether a weapon was used.
Detective David Miles told reporters what inflicted the blow was ‘certainly, part of our inquiries… the injury is consistent with what, I would say at this stage, appears to be blunt force trauma’.
One line of inquiry is that a wooden plank was allegedly used to kill Thai-li up to eight hours before his body was discovered.
‘We’ll await the outcome of the autopsy before we make an absolute determination of what weapon may have been used,’ Detective Miles said.
He added that police have information as to ‘what may have transpired’ but could not release details during the investigation.
Detective Miles said other children were at home when the blow was allegedly inflicted.
Chanell (pictured being consoled on Wednesday) has a number of tattoos she got while in jail including a teardrop under her eye and 187 on the back of her thighs
Local children left sunflowers, stuffed animals and notes outside the crime scene in tribute to the ‘bright’ nine-year-old
Police allege Thai-li (pictured right with his mother, Tiarne Ned) was killed with a wooden plank but are awaiting further details from his autopsy
Schynada Karkadoo (pictured) has been charged over the boy’s death
‘Anything involving a traumatic injury and the death of a child, which in circumstances like this occurs, is quite abhorrent,’ he said.
‘No child should be subjected to anything that obviously leads to this sort of outcome for them.’
Karkadoo’s case was briefly mentioned in Townsville Magistrates Court on Monday.
A brief of evidence was ordered.
The Kirwan home is expected to remain a crime scene until an autopsy is complete later this week.
Police had previously visited the home several times for unrelated matters.
‘We had had very brief interactions with this young person, but obviously being nine years of age, (he) hadn’t come to our attention for any offending behaviour or anything like that,’ Detective Miles said.
Stuffed animals and sentimental notes have been left at the crime scene in memory of the young boy.
‘You (were) so polite and humble,’ one online tribute read.
Another said: ‘Fly high. You will be sadly missed by us all here in Mount Isa.’
Karkadoo was remanded in custody and her case was adjourned until April 23.
