A teenager has been found guilty of murdering a baby boy by shaking him to death.
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| Elijah Shemwell (baby boy), India Shemwell (Mother), and Carl Alesbrook. Photo: Derbyshire Police via bbc.com |
On 5 January, 2022, three days after he was found to be pale, limp and drowsy at his mother’s home in Belper, Derbyshire, Elijah Shemwell died.
16 years old, at the time, Carl Alesbrook, was in a relationship with the mother of Elijah, India Shemwell, and had been alone in the flat looking after the baby.
Now 19, Alesbrook, denied harming 4-month old Elijah, however, was convicted after trial at Derby Crown Court.
After almost 10 hours of deliberation, Jurors returned their verdict on Thursday, and they found Alesbrook, of Upper Greenhill Gardens, Matlock, guilty of a charge of grievous bodily harm with intent.
Elijah suffered injuries and multiple home fractures, the Court had heard.
Alesbrook and Shemwell would be sentenced at a future date yet to be set, Judge Jeremy Baker said.
According to bbc.com:
Prosecutors said although Shemwell, who was 21 when her son died, was “a thoroughly inadequate mother who neglected Elijah”, it was not their case that she caused any of his injuries.
Jurors were told Shemwell’s sexual relationship with her baby’s father, who she was separated from, may have caused Alesbrook “some understandable frustration at the uncertainty of the status of his relationship” with her.
After the verdict, Det Ch Insp Greg McGill, of Derbyshire Police, said: “Carl Alesbrook, for reasons that only he knows, decided to shake Elijah, causing him a fatal brain injury.”
