By Editor,Tita Smith

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Minto shopping centre crash: Heartbreaking last photo of baby killed in mall crash as family pay tribute with extraordinary act

Melenaite Cataleva Malu killed in car accident

Five-month-old’s pram was hit in a mall car park

By TITA SMITH AND KARLEIGH SMITH, SENIOR NEWS REPORTERS, AUSTRALIA

Published: 03:50 BST, 23 September 2025 | Updated: 03:50 BST, 23 September 2025

The devastated family of a baby girl killed in a mall car accident have paid tribute to the five-month-old with a stunning pink floral memorial as they prepare to say their final goodbyes.

Melenaite Cataleva Malu and her five-year-old brother were injured when they were struck by a reversing white Renault Koleos SUV at Minto Mall about 3.30pm on September 15.

Melenaite died at the scene while her brother was rushed to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition before being released the following day.

Police are investigating whether the 35-year-old female driver – reported to be the children’s mother, Nicole Sotelo Libut – accidentally reversed the car instead of moving forward, and subsequently crushed the baby in the pram against another vehicle.

On Tuesday, a florist shared a photo of a decorative floral installation assembled as the family prepare to farewell the little girl, who was born on April 14.

The memorial features a pink, cloud-shaped wall adorned with bouquets of flowers, purple ribbons, and candles.

‘Flowers for a princess,’ the post reads.

‘So happy to bring a little bit of joy to this beautiful family.’

Melenaite Cataleva Malu and her brother pose for a photo, which was posted on Facebook in July

Parents Lameki Malu and Nicole Sotelo Libut are pictured together during happier times

Since the tragedy, grieving relatives have changed their Facebook profile pictures to images of Melenaite in a white dress, resembling a Baptism gown.

The Daily Mail understands the family are devout members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and belong to the Mittagong congregation.

Just two months ago, Melenaite’s father, Lameki Malu, shared his first photo online of his baby girl, then aged just three months old.

The picture – which was also one of the last photos shared publicly of the little girl – shows her posing alongside her older brother.

Loved ones took to the comments to dote over the children, describing them as ‘beautiful’ and ‘gorgeous’.

‘Precious. And look at those cheeks,’ another friend said.

Seven ambulances were called to the Minto crash scene where the baby was given CPR but sadly died at the scene.

At the time of the accident, the Daily Mail understands Melenaite was in a pram and the little boy was beside her, next to the vehicle.

Loved ones have changed their profile pictures on social media to photos of Melenaite wearing what appears to be a Baptism gown

Ms Libut and Mr Malu are pictured in 2020 shortly after the birth of their first child with then-NSW Minister for Mental Health, Regional Youth and Women, Bronnie Taylor, as the politician visited a Sydney hospital

The Renault driver was later seen crying hysterically outside a nearby El Jannah restaurant.

In the days after the tragedy, family and friends flocked to the Tahmoor home of the children’s uncle and aunt Daimen and Ella Standring, south of Sydney, as they grieved together on the front lawn.

Mr Standring was seen talking to neighbours in the street within their cul-de-sac as relatives gathered to share their heartbreak.

Amid the mourners, a woman was seen sitting at the front of the residence clutching an elephant-patterned baby blanket and a pink teddy bear, with a young boy next to her. Mr Standring at one point hugged a boy who appeared to have a head injury.

The couple declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Mail. Google Map images revealed that an identical white Renault Koleos to the one involved in the car park tragedy had previously been parked in the home’s driveway.

Poignantly, their tidy family home bore all the signs that an infant lived there.

A car seat was seen leaning on a wall outside the house, while a ‘baby on board’ sticker hung in the window of a silver SUV parked in the driveway.

The couple told neighbours family and friends would be gathering at the house

A tricycle with a push handlebar was also seen on the property

Out the front of the house, a child seat could be seen positioned on the ground

The white Renault thought to be involved in the accident was nowhere to be seen.

Another young mother had earlier spoken of her horror at witnessing the moment the car reversed in the Minto car park, as the baby was nestled in a nearby brown pram.

Minto resident Maholy Montaro, who was parked just metres from the incident, described in detail hearing the collision from just a few parking spaces away.

She said it was followed almost immediately by the distressed wails of the driver.

‘I heard the sound. It was a loud bump,’ she told the Daily Mail.

‘Within seconds I could hear a woman hysterically screaming… it broke my heart.

‘And about five minutes after that all the emergency services came in.’

Ms Montaro, a 29-year-old factory operator and mother of two, said she would have run over to help, but she had her own young children in her car.

Crime scene tape kept onlookers away from the tragic scene at Minto Mall

A mangled pram was pictured next to a mother’s white Renault on Monday afternoon

An El Jannah staff member was seen on Tuesday inspecting the floral tributes left outside the store just metres from where the accident took place

‘I was focused on trying to shield them from it,’ she said.

‘I couldn’t see what happened properly as I had my two young kids in the car and I didn’t want them to see it. But I wanted to give [the mum] a hug.

‘Even still, my kids knew what had happened. I had to explain that the baby girl is now an angel in heaven. My youngest keeps talking about the baby in heaven.’

Ms Montaro said she was not questioned by police in relation to the accident, but had to call her partner to collect her and their kids because she could not access her vehicle.

‘It was so awful [to witness] because I have kids as well. How did this happen?’ she added.

She returned to the tragic scene with her children on Tuesday to lay flowers outside El Jannah.

‘I wouldn’t know how to deal with this situation if it happened to me,’ she said.

‘I wouldn’t cope.’

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Minto shopping centre crash: Heartbreaking last photo of baby killed in mall crash as family pay tribute with extraordinary act

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