A small rural community in Southland has dealt with three tragic deaths in less than a decade, but its residents say it is a tight-knit town affected by a few “isolated incidents”.

Police on Wednesday launched a homicide investigation into the death of a young child,   found badly injured in the Otautau.

The child died on Sunday after being airlifted to Starship in Auckland. 

The death is just the latest tragedy to hit the settlement of 800.

In 2019, 9-year-old Hunter MacIntosh was murdered by his babysitter Daniel Cameron, who was 16 at the time.

A year later, Cameron was sentenced to life in prison.

In 2020, Dale Watene was murdered by Sandy Graham and buried in a shallow grave in the Longwood Forest near the town.

Wallace Takitimu Community Board chairman Tony Philpott said he did not want the town to be defined by what had happened.

The people of Otautau were “one of the friendliest, loveliest communities out there”.

“It’s just we’ve had a couple things go wrong in the last few years that have tainted it.”

He described Otautau as a “resilient town” and said everyone would undoubtedly be sad, but no-one was scared.

“It’s not a scary situation. It’s just a bloody sad situation, more than anything.”

“Every person in Otautau, if they thought they could have done something, if they knew something, it would have been done.”

The town always bounced back from tragedy and the actions of a few did not define the many, he said.

Mr Philpott emphasised it was not an issue with the town itself, describing it as “sheer coincidence”.

“It’s not a town full of ragamuffins or scumbags, it’s the opposite.”

“These isolated incidents that happened have put the town on the map for the wrong reasons, you could put it on the map for a lot of good reasons too.”

 Now serving his second term as chairman, he said it was a town full of “friendly people who like to get things done”.

A local, who did not wish to be named said the incident was “really sad” and only further ruined the town’s reputation.

“It slanders us . . . people just see the negatives but we love this town.”

She did not believe there was any underlying cause of  the tragedies Otautau had faced.

It was “an unfortunate coincidence”.

“I’d just be really upset about it . . . a [young child] dying, it’s tragic.”

Southland Mayor Rob Scott said his thoughts were with the child’s family and the wider community.

“Otautau is a small, tight-knit town and tragedies such as this do have a significant impact.”

The two 19-year-olds who were previously charged in relation this incident are set to face additional charges at the Invercargill District Court on Friday.

Police say they will continue to support the child’s family as well as the wider community as the case proceeds.

  tayler.mutton@alliedmedia.co.nz