A 3-year-old boy suffered fatal injuries after being beaten by his own mother and her boyfriend.
It was in 2018 when Kemarni Watson Darby was found lifeless in their apartment in West Bromwich.
Prosecutors at Birmingham Court told how the child experienced repeated ‘painful’ beatings weeks before he tragically died.
According to Birmingham Live, Kemarni’s injuries were like those seen in car crash victims.
His mother, 30-year-old Alicia Watson, and her boyfriend 31-year-old Nathaniel Pope, have both denied multiple child cruelty and murder charges.
Prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC said the young boy suffered severe injuries which could not be blamed on “usual rough and tumble bruising on a child.”
“Urgent medical assistance was called at 3.49pm to attend to Kemarni at a two-bed flat in West Bromwich. On arrival, paramedics, arriving quickly, found Kemarni to be lifeless,” he said.
“At the time, Watson was following instruction to conduct CPR and she was noted to be extremely distressed,” Badenoch continued.
“The man that was present in the flat, sitting in a chair close to Kemarni, did not say or do much.
“The efforts to save Kemarni’s life proved fruitless and his death was confirmed at 5.05pm that same afternoon.”
The injuries suffered by the 3-year-old included wounds to his colon and liver and multiple fractures to his rib cage.
Bruising was also uncovered on his head, arms, abdomen, legs, back, chest, lungs, neck and mouth.
The court was also told that Kemarni was subjected to abdominal trauma that caused internal bleeding.
“(A pathologist) noted that Kemarni sustained horrendous injuries both that day and on earlier occasions. The injuries were evident both externally, so on the skin surface, and internally when a post-mortem examination was conducted.
“Amongst those injuries were multiple fractures to his skeleton, some of which would have required force akin to a road traffic accident or stamping on his body, if it were laying upwards, with a shod foot.
“There was nothing to suggest that his small frame, body structures or blood constitution, was such as to render him unusually susceptible to injuries of this kind. He was a normal, boisterous, mischievous, three-year-old boy.”
Mr. Badenoch continued: “here were multiple fractures to both the left and right side of his rib cage. These fractures could be dated historically into the hours and weeks preceding his death. Internal bruising and lacerations were also extensive. There was bruising to his lungs, a laceration to his liver and a laceration to his colon.
“There is also something within this case that ultimately killed him and it concerned a part of his body known as the mesentery – that is within the lower part of the body.
“It allows blood vessels and nerves to supply the intestines. In Kemarni, it had been subjected to abdominal trauma. It means that, most likely, the damage was caused to Kemarni by a blow or more than one blow.”
“Those responsible for doing it would have known that it was extremely painful, not least because of the amount of force necessary to inflict these injuries. This is, therefore, not a case in which an accident can play any part,” he added.
“Pope and Watson were responsible for his care and they lived together in a small flat.
“The prosecution case is that they singularly failed in that respect, they were cruel to him and ultimately killed him.”
The trial continues.
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