Cairns child killings

On 19 December 2014, eight children were found stabbed to death at a home in the Cairns suburb of Manoora, Queensland, Australia. The victims — four boys and four girls, ranging in age from two to 14 — were seven siblings or half-siblings and their cousin. The bodies were discovered by the children's 20-year-old brother when he visited the house at around 11:00 a.m. The mother of seven of the children and aunt of the eighth, Raina Mersane Ina Thaiday (also known as Mersane Warria), allegedly told her son "I've killed them" upon his arrival. She was subsequently hospitalised for 35 self-inflicted stab wounds, including to the chest and neck.

Investigators believed Thaiday may have drugged the children before the attack, as no witnesses reported hearing the victims during the incident, though no drugs were found at the crime scene. Neighbours reported hearing fighting from the house the night before and in the early hours of the morning of the killings. It was also reported that Thaiday had thrown the family's possessions onto the front lawn prior to the killings and had been seen yelling in the street.

Thaiday, a 37-year-old Torres Strait Islander woman with no previous criminal history, was reportedly experiencing untreated mental health issues and financial stress at the time. She was described as a long-time cannabis user who had recently banned alcohol and drugs from the house, and had reportedly developed extreme religious views, including public statements referencing "Papa God" and visits to multiple churches "seeking counsel".

On 21 December 2014, Thaiday was charged with eight counts of murder. She was moved to a mental health facility in Brisbane, with a preliminary hearing scheduled in Cairns for 30 January 2015. In April 2017, Queensland's Mental Health Court ruled that Thaiday was of "unsound mind" at the time of the killings and therefore not criminally responsible under Queensland law. She was diagnosed with psychosis stemming from undiagnosed schizophrenia. One examining psychiatrist found she "in some way believed she would be saving the children from the end of the world," while another described her state as "apocalyptic delusional" and characterised it as "schizophrenia at its very depth and its worst."

As of May 2017, Thaiday was held for treatment in a secure ward at the Park Centre for Mental Health, reportedly slow to respond to treatment and at high risk of relapse. As of the tenth anniversary of the killings in 2024, she remained detained under a mental health order.

The Torres Strait Island Regional Council requested privacy, citing "strict cultural protocols." A funeral for the children was held on 10 January 2015 at the Cairns Convention Centre. The house where the killings occurred was later removed, and eight frangipani trees were planted at the site as a memorial.