Teen’s tears for dead baby brother after mum’s cruelty
Robyn Wuth |
A teenage boy has condemned his mother in an emotional courtroom address after she admitted the criminal cruelty of his slain baby brother.
The catastrophically injured newborn, named Michael, was just 37 days old and lying on his drug addicted mother’s chest when he suddenly went quiet.
His head flopped and he stopped breathing.
Two hours later, the baby was dead.
His mother, Kristie Lee Willmot, walked free from the Brisbane Supreme Court with a suspended sentence on Friday after pleading guilty to child cruelty.
But she will have to live with the disgust of Michael’s older brother William, who says he can never forgive her.
The 14-year-old gave a powerful victim impact statement at his mother’s sentencing, weeping only as he remembered his baby brother.
“Michael Willmot was my little brother,” the teen said.
“When baby Michael was killed, I felt very confused and disgusted. I couldn’t understand how anyone could do something like that.”
William said he had been trying to rebuild his relationship with his mother before the death, to forge a connection with his baby brother.
“What happened to baby Michael is unjustified. I will never see my brother again in this world.
“I will never watch him grow up, play with him, talk to him or watch him play games.
“The actions of others took this away from me – people should be responsible for their actions.”
Willmot did not look at her oldest son during his emotional statement.
After months of negotiations, a murder charge against Willmot was dropped before she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of child cruelty.
Michael had been in his mother’s care for less than two weeks when she left him with her new boyfriend, Robert Alan Gee, in a tiny caravan so she could score drugs, the court was told.
She was gone for under an hour in June 2021, but in that time Gee shook the baby so violently he suffered “catastrophic” head injuries.
The newborn was also thrown across the caravan and suffered broken ribs and tibia, retinal haemorrhages, and bruising to his scalp and buttocks.
Gee then sent a picture to Willmot’s mobile to show her baby Michael was fine, but when she returned she knew immediately something was wrong.
The mother did nothing because she was already being watched by concerned child-welfare officers.
Throughout the weekend, Michael’s condition deteriorated.
The listless baby’s temperature soared and he refused to feed, and the court accepted he would have been in immense pain.
“I think I should have taken him to the hospital the other night,” Willmot admitted in a text message.
“Now I don’t know what to do. He’s not getting better and truly scaring me. But I can almost guarantee for us to take him in days later with an unknown injury, he wouldn’t be coming home with me.
“Child services already have me flagged for possible neglect.”
Baby Michael stopped breathing at 6.44pm on the fourth day after being injured.
Paramedics were called and managed to resuscitate the baby, but by 8.14pm he was declared dead.
“She knew that not taking the child for medical attention would likely cause harm,” Justice Martin Burns said.
“There’s no suggestion at all that she knew what had happened to the baby.
“She’s not criminally responsible for the death of the baby. She did not cause the injuries and in fact was misled by the co-accused.”
However, Willmot was more concerned with child services finding out than the baby’s health, he said.
She was sentenced to four years’ jail, which was suspended for the 756 days she had already served in custody.
Gee pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a brief appearance on Friday and he is due to be sentenced in November.
AAP
