A six-year-old child was seen with a large bruise on his head the day before he died.

Ferro-James Sio, who lived with his father at emergency accommodation in Rotorua, died on Saturday night after being taken to Rotorua Hospital.

His father, William James Jason Sio, 24, faces assault charges in relation to the incident and police have launched a homicide inquiry focused on the Union St house where the pair were living.

Neighbour Mark Rameka said he was doing his washing and noticed a large bruise on the boy's face but he only got a brief glance.

KELLY HODEL/STUFF The emergency accommodation in Rotorua where the six-year-old boy was living before he died.

"It looked big," he said. "At the time I could not believe (it) as there were a few people inside the emergency accommodation next door.



"I figured it could not have happened under all our noses."

Rameka said when he heard Ferro-James had died in hospital it was "unbelievable".

"He was just an innocent little boy.... It shows we all need to be much more vigilant."

"We are a close-knit street and try to do our best to help everyone out with food or whatever they need."

KELLY HODEL/STUFF A shirt has been outside a Union Street as a tribute to a six-year-old who died on Saturday.

A black and blue t-shirt with the number 23 has been left on a tree outside the property as a small memorial.

Passersby on the street, stopped to take a moment of silence for the young life. Some walking by could be heard saying simply, "That poor kid".

Rameka said he only saw the boy a few times around the property and had offered Sio iceblocks on hot days for his child but these were refused.

"I could hear arguments from time to time but not physical violence," he said.

KELLY HODEL/STUFF Rotorua's Union Street is stunned after a young boy died on Saturday and a homicide investigation was launched.

Neighbours say three rooms are rented out at the emergency accommodation address.

Other residents at the address did not know what happened the night Ferro-James died and they did not know Sio well.

The Ministry of Social Development regional commissioner Mike Bryant confirmed the address was a property used for emergency housing in the Rotorua region.

An Oranga Tamariki spokesman said they had no comment to make at this stage of the investigation.

William Sio made a brief appearance in the Rotorua District Court on Monday charged with assault.

He was remanded in custody to reappear on March 2, and police said further charges are likely.

The death brings the number of child homicide victims (aged 0-14) in New Zealand to 138 since the beginning of 2004, an average of nine per year.

Two thirds of child victims are aged under three. Last year 12 children died in suspicious circumstances. This is the first of 2020.

The data comes from The Homicide Report – an ongoing Stuff investigation into why New Zealanders kill.

New Zealand has one of the worst child homicide rates in the OECD, despite having a low overall homicide rate, relative to other OECD countries.