Without doubt three-year-old Nia Glassie was picked on and "bullied in the worst kind of way", a jury in the High Court at Rotorua was told today.
"She was singled out, for what reason we do not know," prosecutor Fletcher Pilditch said during his four-hour summing up of the Crown's case at the trial of five people charged over Nia's death.
The abusive treatment of the toddler was not something that happened once but over time and, quite possibly, gained in significance and intensity, he said.
"The treatment of Nia would suggest that suffering fatal harm was almost inevitable."
Wiremu Curtis, 19, the child's so-called step-father whom she called "Mumu", and his brother Michael Curtis, 21, are alleged to have kicked the little girl in the head on the evening of Friday, July 20, last year.
She slipped into a coma soon after and died in Auckland's Starship Hospital on August 3, 2007.
Mr Pilditch contended the actions of the two men amounted to murder.
Oriwa Kemp, 18, partner of Michael Curtis, and Nia's cousin Michael Pearson, 20, "encouraged and abetted" the brothers, resulting in manslaughter charges.
The prosecutor said Kemp and Pearson contributed to a "climate of violence" against Nia by "egging on" the Curtis pair.
Condoned by the adults in the house, the treatment of the toddler became "acceptable".
"Everyone fed off the behaviour of each other. They were finding it funny," said Mr Pilditch.
All four adults exerted control over Nia, although Wiremu Curtis was supposed to be caring for her while her mother, his partner of 18 months, was at work.
"That is the environment in which those final fatal kicks were inflicted."
Mr Pilditch said the "gross negligence" of the fifth accused, Nia's mother Lisa Kuka - who failed to get medical treatment and failed to protect her daughter from violence - was why she faced two charges of manslaughter.
The 35-year-old had not met her lawful obligations as a parent.
Despite Kuka's many denials, Mr Pilditch submitted she knew about 8pm on the Friday Nia was kicked in the head that her daughter was very sick.
Kuka claimed she was unaware anything was wrong until 4am the following day.
Letting her child lie in a coma all day Saturday while a party was going on was "grossly negligent", he said.
Summoned about 5am on Sunday to her sister's place where Nia was staying overnight, Kuka did not take her critically ill daughter to Rotorua hospital until 8.35am.
Mr Pilditch said by the time Nia was airlifted to Auckland "they had missed the boat to save her life".
The toddler died because of the effects of swelling to the brain. Expert witnesses said her life could have been saved if she had had medical intervention sooner.
After denying in numerous police interviews that she knew anything of Nia's abuse, Kuka gradually began to acknowledge more of what had happened.
But it was not as much as the Crown believed she knew, the prosecutor said.
"Closest to the truth was her statement that she was aware of the treatment but sat and did nothing."
Defence lawyers for the five accused will begin their submissions tomorrow.
