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Three teenage boys have appeared in the High Court charged with murder following the stabbing death of 15-year-old Kaea Karauria in Napier.

Two youths, aged 16 and 15, made their first appearance in an adult court on Friday.

Their names were suppressed when they appeared in the High Court at Napier before Justice Dale La Hood.

Two of the three teens pleaded not guilty, while counsel for the other said a plea would be entered at a later hearing.

A trial has been scheduled for July next year.

The boys were remanded to secure residences under the care of Oranga Tamariki.

Kaea died in the early hours of May 11 this year, Mother’s Day.

He was discovered critically injured with stab wounds on Alexander Ave in Napier by police responding to reports of disorder at a birthday party nearby.

He died at the scene despite the efforts of ambulance staff.

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The death of the popular Napier Boys’ High School student and a rising rugby player led to an outpouring of grief in Hawke’s Bay, generating tributes from the schools he attended, rugby clubs he played for, and from his family and friends.

In August, more than 800 people braved the rain to join a hīkoi through suburban Napier streets in a display of solidarity with Kaea’s family and to call for an end to street violence.

A 21-year-old woman and another teen have been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice in the wake of Kaea’s death.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined ¾ÅÒ»ÐÇ¿ÕÎÞÏÞ’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.