Operation Stack Statements
Detective Senior Sergeant Nicola Reeves, Canterbury CIB
Police have made significant progress in our
investigation into Connor’s
death and have
already made a number of arrests, as you’ll be
aware.
A 32-year-old male has been charged with the
murder of 16-year-old Connor
Whitehead. He has
appeared in the Christchurch District Court this
morning
and been remanded in custody.
The
three people charged with accessory after the fact to murder
appeared in
the Christchurch District Court
yesterday and are also remanded in custody.
A number
of people in our community have provided assistance and
information
to the investigation team and I would
like to extend my thanks to them.
Our enquiries are
ongoing however and we are still actively seeking one
other
person who we believe was involved in
Connor’s death.
That person is aware that they are
being sought and we encourage them to come
forward
and speak with us.
There will also be people who know
where this person is, and who may in fact
be
helping this person to evade police.
To those people -
we urge you to put yourselves in the shoes of
Connor’s
family and think how you would feel if
this was your loved one who had died
in these
circumstances.
The message is very simple - now is the
time to do the right thing and come
and speak with
us.
Connor had his whole life ahead of him and this
brutal and senseless incident
has robbed that from
him and his family.
I’d like to take this
opportunity to thank the investigation team who
are
doing an outstanding job.
Statement on behalf of Connor’s family:
I am James, Connor’s
dad and I am speaking on behalf of myself,
Connor’s
mum Cheryl and our wider
family.
We are shocked and heart broken by the loss of
Connor in such a senseless and
needless
way.
Connor was an innocent bystander on Friday night.
He was at a party with his
friends, he should have
been safe and he should be home with us.
Connor did
not know the people who killed him and was not involved
in
whatever it was that sparked this unimaginable
outcome.
Our family have no connection to those involved in this horrible attack.
While we have many
questions that need answers, right now we want to
remember
and celebrate Connor for the amazing son,
brother and friend he was.
Connor was loved by
everyone and he cared about his family and
friends
deeply.
Connor was an incredible
brother to William, Cordelia and Emma and a
special
son to myself and Cheryl. We were and
continue to be so proud of him.
He had an amazing
group of friends from across the city and they were
so
important to him and he was important to them.
As friends they loved each
other and it is a
comfort to us that some of Connor’s friends were with
him
when he passed.
He was an amazing kid who
loved music and volleyball, and he would have
been
a great man. We are devastated that we will
not see him live his life and
reach his
potential.
Connor had dreams, he had plans to go to
university and study law. He was
very focussed and
for all those dreams to be taken from him and us is
tragic.
Connor and I were father and son but we were
also mates. We were looking
forward to seeing the
new Spiderman movie next week. We had tickets to go
to
the Snoop Dogg concert and we were excited about
it.
I have not only lost my son but also my best friend.
To everyone who has supported us since Friday
night thank you. Your love and
support means a lot
to us and we are truly grateful.
Thank you to the
emergency staff who responded on the night and to the
Police
for their work in holding the people
responsible for Connor’s senseless
death to
account.
We would like to reiterate the Police’s
message to the individual who has
not yet come
forward. Do the right thing and hand yourself
in.
Right now we want to focus on Connor as we
organise his funeral and
celebration of his life.
We ask for privacy as we mourn our precious
boy.