'Our beautiful darling': Three-year-old to be farewelled around the same time a man is due to appear in court for her murder
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A 3-year-old Northland child is due to be buried this afternoon around the same time a man is due in court charged with her murder.
The 45-year-old man will appear in the Kaikohe District Court on Monday charged with assaulting a child sometime between 1 and 30 April, and with murdering the same child on 21 May.
Meanwhile, Eternal Tides Funeral Services has advised that "our beautiful darling" - Catalya Remana Tangimetua-Pepene - was being farewelled today at Te Paea Marae, just north of Whangārei, starting at 10am.
The toddler, known to close family as Remana, would be buried at the nearby St James Church cemetery in Ngāraratunua.
Emergency services were called to a home on Tawanui Road, in Kaikohe, about 6.15pm last Wednesday, where they found the girl unresponsive.
Police said she could not be saved, despite medical treatment at the scene.
Police investigating her death initially treated it as unexplained but announced the arrest late on Sunday.
The man, who cannot be named before he has appeared in court, is due before a judge on early Monday afternoon.
Detective Senior Sergeant Christan Fouhy said Victim Support was supporting the whānau and local community following the tragedy.
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