Teenager found guilty of shaking partner’s baby to death

A teenager has been found guilty of murdering a four-month-old baby after shaking the child to death when he was 16 years old.

Carl Alesbrook, now 19, was convicted of murdering Elijah Shemwell, his partner’s son, in January 2022 when he was left alone with the infant.

Derby crown court heard that Elijah after being shaken on three separate occasions, and died at Nottingham’s Queen’s medical centre on 5 January 2022.

The prosecutor, Vanessa Marshall KC, said Alesbrook killed Elijah about seven weeks after meeting his mother, India Shemwell, in November 2021 when he was left alone with the infant at Shemwell’s home in Belper, Derbyshire.

Jurors were told that Shemwell, aged 21 at the time of her son’s death and now 23 years old, had separated from the baby’s father but “remained emotionally and sexually involved” with him.

Alesbrook denied being “in love” with Shemwell or being “jealous” that she was still seeing the father of her child.

But the jury was shown a message Alesbrook sent to Shemwell saying it “hurts” him that she slept with Elijah’s father just four hours after the defendant had helped her at home.

Shemwell was described by Marshall as “a thoroughly inadequate mother” who neglected Elijah and failed to seek prompt medical attention for him on 1 and 2 January.

“While 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,” she said.

The court heard that Shemwell dialled 999 at 10.33pm on 2 January and told the operator: “I’ve just come back from the shop and my four-month-old isn’t breathing very well and he’s gone pale and limp.”

Jurors heard that a consultant forensic pathologist said: “In addition to shaking, there had been impacts to the face, either as the result of blows being delivered, or Elijah striking a surface.”

In a Snapchat message to Shemwell days before Elijah was taken to hospital, Alesbrook said: “He is being a cunt, he keeps spitting it out. He doesn’t need changing either, I checked 10 minutes ago.”

Alesbrook told the jury he fed Elijah “quite a few times” but that was the extent of his responsibilities towards the child.

The jury heard evidence that, on the day of the fatal assault, Alesbrook was suffering from a toothache and had sought pain relief for it.

Addressing the defendant, Marshall said: “Despite your efforts to console him, you resorted to the only tactic you discovered could stop that baby crying and that was to shake him.

“You shook him on at least two occasions, one of which killed him.”