‘I should hate you, but I don’t,’ Dad of fatally shot 16-year-old tells jailed killer

“I should hate you, but I don’t”.

These were the words of James Whitehead to his son’s killer, who wept in the dock as he was told of the devastation he had caused his victim’s family when he fired the fatal shot.

Sixteen-year-old Connor Whitehead was gunned down by gang associates outside a 15th birthday party at Heaphy Place in Casebrook on November 5, 2021.

Joshua David Craig Smith, 34, was found not guilty of Connor’s murder, along with his co-accused Daniel Nelson Sparks, at the High Court in Christchurch on May 24. The pair were both found guilty of manslaughter.

At their sentencing on Friday, Justice Melanie Harland sentenced Smith to seven years’ imprisonment for manslaughter and Sparks to six years and three months’ jail for being an accessory to that manslaughter.

In jailing them, Justice Harland told the pair: “Connor was vulnerable … there was nothing he could do defend himself.”

In his victim impact statement, Connor’s father said he should hate Sparks, the man who pulled the trigger that killed his son, but he didn’t.

“I show pity on you.”

He described the torment of never being able to see the man his son would’ve become, the family he would’ve started on his own, and his future prospects.

“Our whole world has been broken forever”.

The emotional father said he respected Smith for reaching out to the family in writing from prison.

“I know you didn’t mean to kill my son, but you did. Nothing is going to bring Connor back…

“Connor forever.”

He said Sparks should be ashamed of himself for taking loaded shotguns to the party, and said he was just as responsible for killing.

Connor’s mother, Cheryl Merrin, described her son as “an old soul, a deep thinker”.

He was confident and cheeky, with a great moral compass, Merrin said.

“He was my wee rebel.

“From the moment we realised he was never coming home, the world we knew, the life we knew has been destroyed… Our family is shattered in ways I cannot explain”.

She told Smith and Sparks: “I hope it eats away at you every single day forever.”

In her victim impact statement, Connor’s aunt, Angela, described him as a son to her, and a brother to her children.

“I was proud to have played a part in his upbringing … he was the kindest, sweetest boy you’d ever meet.”

She then held up a photo of Connor as a young boy to Smith and Sparks.

“You both made decisions that cost his life, both of you are equally responsible.”

Step-mother Laura Hay described Connor as having “big blue eyes and cheeky smile that lit up any room he was in”.

“Do you know what it feels like to go into full panic mode when a car backfires, or a firework goes off, or when someone makes reference to shooting a gun? Do you know how it feels to see anyone that looks like the person you love … and then you remember it can’t be?”

Smith and Sparks, who were linked to the Mangu Kaha gang, had gone to the Casebrook party – for Sparks’ own daughter’s birthday after Sparks received a distress call from his son. They loaded shotguns into Smith’s car and sped there.

A conflict ensued between a group of teens and the two men. Smith fired a shotgun at Connor, an innocent bystander, hitting his body with over 200 small pellets and killing him.

Smith and Sparks then fled, and got help from associates who drove them around and gave them information about the police investigation, sparking a manhunt for them both.

Smith was found three days later. He was bitten by a police dog during his arrest and underwent surgery at Christchurch Hospital.

In a hospital room, he told police he’d “f…ed up big time”.

But it was only when he got to trial that he accepted he was guilty of manslaughter.

“That f…ing poor boy, I’m sorry to the family. I didn’t mean for it to happen like that, for none of this shit to happen,” Smith told police while sobbing.