Taj Hart: Allegedly murdered Nowra teen’s final moments recalled in trial

A woman has described sitting with an Indigenous teenager as he took his final breaths following an alleged hit-and-run murder on the NSW south coast.

Taj Hart, 18, was allegedly murdered in Nowra on February 24, 2022.

A witness has recalled her memory of sitting with an alleged murder victim as he took his final breaths after allegedly being run down by a mother and son in a hit-and-run “revenge” plot on the NSW south coast.

The evidence came during the trial of Jayden Walmsley-Hume, 20, and his mother, Katie Walmsley, 40, after the duo were charged with the murder of 18-year-old Taj Hart in South Nowra.

The pair have pleaded not guilty to murder charges, while Walmsley has also denied being an accessory after the fact to murder.

Their trial began on Wednesday in the NSW Supreme Court in Wollongong, more than two years after the mother and son, from Currarong, allegedly ran down Mr Hart on Old Southern Rd, South Nowra, on February 24, 2022.

On Wednesday, the jury was told Walmsley was in the passenger seat of a Mitsubishi Triton as Walmsley-Hume drove it off the road and into Mr Hart, before returning to the road and driving away.

The trial is taking place in the Wollongong courthouse.

A witness gave evidence for the jury on Thursday afternoon, saying she was picking up her son and his girlfriend from the Nowra Christian School on Old Southern Rd when the incident occurred.

The woman, who told the court she was with Mr Hart in his final moments, said she saw a white ute swerve off the road, hit the teenager and drive away.

The jury was shown a map of the road.

“I started screaming out the number plates of the car and told the kids to write it down and call the police,” she said.

The witness explained how she tended to Mr Hart while waiting for emergency services to arrive.

“I asked him for his name, but he wasn’t speaking,” she said.

“He was very, very weak. He was struggling to take breaths. I couldn’t get anything out of him.

“I have children his age and I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to give him comfort.”

The witness testimony came hours after Walmsley-Hume’s defence barrister, Sharyn Hall SC, told the jury her client’s intention was to slightly injure Mr Hart.

Previously, Crown prosecutor Kate Ratcliffe told the jury Mr Hart and Walmsley-Hume had animosity from previous, violent altercations.

She said Mr Hart previously struck Walmsley-Hume during an altercation, resulting in a fractured elbow.

Ms Hall said this was the basis of the hit-and-run; to slightly injure the teen as payback.

“The reason why he has pleaded not guilty and what he does not accept is that he had murderous intent,” she said.

“He was not trying to kill Mr Hart and he was not trying to seriously injure him.”

Meanwhile, Walmsley’s defence barrister, Edward Anderson, argued his client was not a murderer.

“She was the passenger in a vehicle that ultimately collided with Mr Hart,” he told the jury on Thursday.

“In order for you to find her guilty of murder, you would have to find that she actually agreed with her son to commit the elements of murder.

“You would have to find there was actually an agreement formed between the two of them, that he would drive back in order to strike to deceased in order to kill him, and that she agreed to do that with him.”

The trial is expected to last four weeks.

Got a news tip? Email us at [e-mail]