Schoolboy, 9, annoys babysitter and is dead 90 minutes later with a knife in his stomach

Daniel Cameron, who was 15 at the time, had been paid to babysit nine-year-old Hunter MacIntosh while his mother went out for her usual social outing that evening

A teenage babysitter who murdered a nine-year-old boy^[1] has been sentenced to life in prison after having a “tendency to get angry at the stupidest things”.

Daniel Cameron, who was 15 when the killing occurred^[2], had been paid to babysit Hunter MacIntosh on October 30 last year. But according to court documents, he left the house early and was spotted walking through town at 8pm.

At 8.30pm, he sent a Snapchat message to three friends asking “what would you do if I killed someone?”. Cameron then followed up with a Facebook message to another friend which said: “What would you think of me if I killed someone?” and then a second message saying, “straightforward answer”.^[3][4]

READ MORE: Teacher caught drink driving avoids ban as he was ‘fleeing for his life’^[5]READ MORE: Tragedy as ‘one in a million’ daughter Natasha Thorp dies after being run over^[6]

When the victim’s mother returned home around 10:30pm she found her child dead with a 25cm knife embedded in his stomach in their home in Otautau, New Zealand.

The post-mortem showed he had received three large knife wounds to his chest and torso and had marks on his neck consistent with asphyxia.

The results from the autopsy suggested the boy had been killed within 90 minutes of being in the babysitter’s care. Cameron was quickly arrested at his home after midnight. He pleaded guilty in March.

Hunter had babysat the boy on 10 separate occasions. On that particular day, Hunter’s mother had gone out for the evening at around 6pm for a regular social outing.

She texted Cameron earlier in the evening and at 10.10pm to check if Hunter was asleep. While Cameron had been texting earlier, she did not get a response to the final question.

Speaking in court, the victim’s mother gave a harrowing victim impact statement, saying the pain never ends.

Handing down the sentence in the Invercargill High Court on Monday, Justice Rachel Dunningham said Cameron committed an aggravated crime by murdering Hunter.

“I must sentence you to life imprisonment unless it would be manifestly unjust,” she said.

Summing up the facts of the case, Justice Dunningham noted Cameron had “mildly autistic personality traits” and admitted “a tendency to get angry at the stupidest things”.

Hunter’s distraught mother, Amy King, who was 28 weeks pregnant at the time of the murder, said in court: “The feelings of loss are so strong that I wonder how I can keep living.

“I have no regrets except leaving him with Daniel that evening… I will never forgive myself and I have to live with that forever.”

The boy’s aunt said her nephew’s murder “ripped apart” her world^[7].

“I was in shock and disbelief how someone could be so hurtful… to take someone away from this world.”

Cameron was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 11 years.

His own lawyer told the court it was still unclear why the now 16-year-old killed Hunter.

Justice Dunningham concluded it was a sustained attack but didn’t find that it was premeditated. She said Hunter was just a child, and while Cameron was also very young, he was older, bigger and stronger.

Another aggravating factor was that Hunter was in his home and Cameron was left in charge.

“Home is meant to be a safe place for children and it was not,” Justice Dunningham said, adding that Cameron abused Hunter’s trust in the worst possible way.

The court heard that Cameron was bullied at primary school but his mother felt that had passed and not left any lingering effects on Cameron.

Defence counsel Bill Dawkins said that was the most perplexing and troubling question for everyone. He still doesn’t know why Cameron “lost control and behaved in such a grossly violent manner”.

After his arrest, Cameron was carefully examined and assessed by a psychologist and a psychiatrist. They found him to be sane but couldn’t establish the answer to “this most troubling of questions”.