Tahma Teara-Jones: Aunty Barbara pleas for answers a year after Macquarie Fields fatal fire

It has been a year since a 14-year-old boy died in a horrific fire in southwest Sydney. His grandmother has issued a message to the person responsible. Read her heartfelt plea.

A grandmother is pleading with the person responsible for lighting the fire that killed her 14-year-old grandson to come forward and “do the right thing”.

Wiradjuri Aunty Barbara Ruttley will never forget the moment police officers knocked on her door and told her they believed her grandson Tahma Teara-Jones’ body was “dead under a bed” following a horrific house fire.

On Thursday, it will have been a year since he died and she still has no answers despite police investigations showing the fire was deliberately lit.

Just after 1.30am on June 30, 2021, emergency services were called to Montana Way, Macquarie Fields, after smoke was seen coming from a two-storey brick home.

Multiple crews from Fire and Rescue NSW attended and found the home engulfed by flames. Other occupants had managed to escape the home but a teenage boy was unaccounted for.

Tahma Teara-Jones.

After firefighters extinguished the blaze, they located the body of the boy in an upstairs bedroom. The boy was formally identified as 14-year-old Tahma.

Aunty Barb said there were no words that could fully capture just how tough the past 12 months had been.

“It’s heartbreaking that a boy’s life was cut short so young, when he had so much ahead of him,” she said.

“It doesn’t make any sense. Everyone can remember his smile. He was so beautiful. He was a good footballer.

“He had friends from here to Liverpool to all over the area, that’s how many people liked him. He had friends all over. I think that says a lot.”

Wiradjuri Aunty Barbara Ruttley speaks out for the one-year anniversary of her grandson’s death. Picture: Annie Lewis

Aunty Barb asked to see her beloved grandson’s body but was told no, investigators telling her “we think you are better off not seeing what he looks like”.

“How can someone move on when the person responsible is out there?”. That’s the question Aunty Barb asks herself every day.

“It puts a hole in my heart, that it is not settled and no one is paying for it,” she said.

“I don’t know what happened that night, that’s the worst part. I just keep wondering what happened.”

Aunty Barb had one thing to say to the person or people responsible for lighting the fire.

Wiradjuri Aunty Barbara Ruttley speaks exclusively to News Local about the search for answers still. Picture: Annie Lewis

“Please come forward. Do the right thing,” she pleaded.

“You have gotten away with it for a year, but it’s not right. Help us put this to rest, please. He was an innocent boy. He was just 14 years old.”

In May this year, Youth Against Violence announced a $25,000 reward to anyone who could provide information that would lead investigators to solve the case.

A couple of months after the blaze, it was revealed that initial inquiries had determined the fire had been deliberately lit, and police believed that local children may have the answers to how it started.

Tahma Teara-Jones.

In September 2021, Arson Unit Coordinator, Detective Chief Inspector Richard Puffett, told media that Strike Force Tedsa detectives were investigating several lines of inquiry relating to the cause of the fire.

“While we have already spoken with dozens of residents and other witnesses, investigators believe there are still people – particularly local children who knew Tahma – who have an idea of how this fire may have started,” he said at the time.

“These are incredibly tragic circumstances that cost a 14-year-old boy his life, and Tahma’s family deserve answers.

A memorial outside the home in Macquarie Fields where he was killed. Pictures: Lauren Ferri

“As our inquiries continue, we are urging anyone who has information that may assist us, including anyone who may have been driving through the area at the time and noticed suspicious activity, to come forward.”

Aunty Barb and other members of the community have organised a memorial to farewell Tahma and to keep his memory alive. It will be held on Thursday from 4pm at Macquarie Fields Skate Park.

“This is to help me help put him to peace,” she said. “We want to remember him fondly.”

Anyone with information that may assist Strike Force Tedsa investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at nsw.crimestoppers.com.au.

NSW Police was contacted for comment about the investigation, but did not respond prior to deadline.