Man, 19, is discovered responsible of murdering his ex-partner’s child son
- Carl Alesbrook was 16 when he left baby Elijah with catastrophic injuries
- The baby’s mother, India Shemwell, has admitted child cruelty
A teenager who shook his then-partner’s four-month-old son so violently he suffered ‘catastrophic’ brain injuries and broken bones has been found guilty of murder.
Carl Alesbrook, who is now 19, said defenceless Elijah Shemwell was ‘being a little c***’ and complained that the baby kept spitting his dummy out.
The thug’s violent outbursts caused little Elijah bleeding on the brain, whiplash-type injuries and multiple bone fractures between November 2021 and January 2022.
He carried out the assaults aged 16, just weeks after meeting the baby’s mother, India Shemwell. Yet he was regularly trusted to look after Elijah while she was at work.
Alesbrook, of Upper Greenhill Gardens, Matlock, denied causing any harm to Elijah but was unanimously convicted of both murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent by the jury at Derby Crown Court on Thursday.
He showed no emotion as the verdict was read out, although there were tears in the public gallery.
It can now also be reported that the baby’s mother previously pleaded guilty to two child cruelty charges.
Shemwell, who is now 23, admitted she did not dial emergency services more quickly after Elijah became unwell.
The pair will be sentenced at a later date.
Carl Alesbrook, now aged 19, caused bleeding on the brain, whiplash-type injuries and multiple bone fractures to Elijah Shemwell seven weeks after meeting the child’s mother, India Shemwell, in November 2021
India Shemwell, 22, admitted two offences of cruelty to four-month-old Elijah Shemwell
Elijah Shemwell was just four months old when he was shaken to death by his mother’s partner, Carl Alesbrook
Derbyshire police at the home in Belper in 2022
Jurors were told Alesbrook would look after Elijah at Shemwell’s home in Acorn Drive, Belper, while she was out or at work.
Medical evidence presented to a five-week-trial showed Elijah suffered brain damage from being shaken on at least three separate occasions, including New Year’s Day and January 2 2022.
He also had 17 bruises around his chest, back and stomach consistent with grip marks.
He also suffered rib and limb fractures, while his fatal head injuries were described in court as ‘catastrophic’.
The court heard Shemwell sent a video of Elijah unresponsive with a floppy arm to friends on Facebook to ask for advice on his condition on January 1.
The court was told that days before Elijah was rushed to hospital on January 2, Alesbrook sent a Snapchat message to Shemwell in which he said: ‘He is being a c***, he keeps spitting it (the dummy) out.’
CCTV shown to Alesbrook’s trial showed Shemwell visiting a shop on the night of the fatal assault.
Baby Elijah suffered ‘catastrophic’ injuries at the hands of Alesbrook, who used to look after the youngster while the boy’s mother was at work
India Shemwell has admitted two child cruelty offences against her son, Elijah, who was just a few months old when he died
Jurors were told Shemwell also filmed Elijah struggling to breathe before she dialled 999 at 10.33pm on January 2, leading to him being taken by paramedics to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.
He died three days later on January 5.
The court heard Shemwell had separated from Elijah’s father but ‘remained emotionally and sexually involved’ with him, which may have caused Alesbrook some understandable frustration at the uncertainty of the status of his relationship” with her.
The court heard Shemwell had separated from Elijah’s father but ‘remained emotionally and sexually involved’ with him, which may have caused Alesbrook ‘some understandable frustration at the uncertainty of the status of his relationship” with her.
The prosecution alleged that a toothache suffered by Alesbrook at the time may also have caused him to lose his temper with Elijah.
Alesbrook denied that his tooth pain caused him to lash out at the baby and denied feeling jealous towards Shemwell’s ex-partner.
Shemwell was described during her ex-partner’s trial as ‘a thoroughly inadequate mother’ who both generally and specifically neglected Elijah and failed to seek prompt medical attention for him on both January 1 and 2.
Prosecutor Vanessa Marshall KC told the jury trying Alesbrook: ‘Whilst the prosecution heavily criticise Miss Shemwell for this neglect towards Elijah, it is not the prosecution’s case that she caused any of the injuries.’
Ms Marshall continued: ‘The prosecution is confident that a careful review of the evidence in this case puts this defendant alone with Elijah moments before the critical incidents… so as to make it inexplicable on the basis of coincidence that it was not this defendant who was responsible for causing Elijah’s injuries and death.’
