Collie baby death: Neglect-accused parents Maraea Te Oke Mae Hunia and Jahley Poata fight manslaughter charge

A South West couple accused of neglecting their unwell infant son before he died are set to go to trial, finally entering pleas to manslaughter almost four years after the tragedy. Mother-of-eight Maraea Te Oke Mae Hunia and her partner Jahley Poata, both 34, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to unlawfully killing their six-month-old son, in circumstances not constituting murder, in 2022. The Collie pair, who appeared in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court, were allegedly told that the baby, also named Jahley, had a serious health condition four months before he died in Perth Children’s Hospital in October that year. The pair briefly spent time behind bars before securing bail, charged with failing to protect a child in their care from harm. The charges were upgraded to manslaughter in December. As they sat in the dock waiting to re-sign papers after having their bail renewed on Wednesday, Ms Hunia — an aspiring influencer — reapplied her pink lip gloss, played with her long hair and inspected her nails. She was quietly told off my security for rummaging around in her handbag. The couple, who were represented by barrister Helen Prince, are due to face the Supreme Court on April 20 and did not speak with media outside court. Ms Hunia clutched a picture of her son. Just three days before the boy’s birth, she posted on social media that she had become a “market partner” for the beauty range Monat. “Because being eight months pregnant with seven children never stopped anyone,” she said. A social media post announcing her son’s birth in early March included the hashtags: #Protect #Love#Care And in the months between the child falling ill and her arrest, she posted clips of herself dancing to Beyonce, reciting Nicki Minaj lyrics and describing her life as #blessed. She called herself maraea.huniaxo on TikTok and also wrote #Momof8, #PregnantModel, #TwerkQueen and #MultitaskingLife “at its finest”.