The jury in the Ihaka Stokes murder trial has found Troy Taylor, the man accused of his death, guilty of the 15-month-old boy's brutal killing.
It took just four hours to reach the verdict this afternoon. Taylor was also found guilty of assaulting him.
The little boy's mother Mikala Stokes and his biological father Cameron Ellen were both in court to hear the verdict following a nine day trial in the Christchurch High Court.
There were tears of relief and gasps of "no" from the public gallery
Mikala was filmed leaving court with her father, who protectively prodded a crutch towards the 1 NEWS' camera.
The jury was not convinced by Taylor's emotional performance on the stand on Tuesday where he told the jury, "I blame myself every day, maybe if I did something then... I failed him".
Justice Cameron Mander today addressed the issue that he had lied repeatedly throughout the police investigation, a key part of the Crown case.
"At times Mr Taylor was trying to make it look like an accident, he was lying to cover for himself, rather than Ms Stokes," Judge Mander said.
They jury accepted the 59 injuries were inflicted by Taylor as a result of him lashing out at Ihaka due to repeated concussions he had suffered.
They rejected the defence argument that the fatal head injuries were inflicted by Taylor's partner, Ihaka's mother Mikala.
Their case was that she hurt the boy while Taylor was out getting a tattoo.
The jury accepted the Crown version, which included medical evidence ruling out the possibility the child had been injured long-before the 111 call was made.
Taylor will be sentenced on June 9 and has been remanded in custody until that date.
