Maya Chappell died in hospital two days after collapsing at her Shotton Colliery home
Injuries suffered by a two-year-old girl were consistent with forceful shaking and not accidental, a murder trial has heard.
Maya Chappell died in hospital two days after collapsing at her home in Shotton Colliery, County Durham, in September 2022.
Her mother’s boyfriend Michael Daymond, 27, denies murder and said she hit her head when she fell from from a bed.
Pathologists told Teesside Crown Court her injuries were probably “abusive”.
The court has heard Mr Daymond, 27, was in sole care of Maya on 28 September at their new home in Shotton Colliery, County Durham, when he called 999 to say she was gasping for breath.
Michael Daymond and Dana Carr are on trial at Teesside Crown Court
She died two days later at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary and pathologists found injuries consistent with abuse, the court heard.
Paediatric pathologist Dr Jo McPartland said she found numerous bleeds in Maya’s eyes that were caused in the 48 hours or so before her death.
She said they were caused by an “excessive” forward and backward motion of the head and neck, possibly in combination with an impact against a hard surface.
She said the “constellation” of injuries had only been seen in accidental cases that involved high-speed car crashes, a multi-storey level fall or a head-crushing incident.
Dr McPartland said no “natural causes” such as an underlying illness or blood clotting disorder were found in Maya.
She said a “low-level fall” such as that claimed by Mr Daymond would “not be expected to cause” her injuries and the findings in Maya of both herself and other pathologists “would indicate a non-accidental” or “abusive” source.
The court has heard Maya’s mother, 24-year-old Dana Carr, had been in a relationship with Mr Daymond for nine weeks before the girl’s death.
Dana Carr denies allowing the death of a child and child cruelty
She denies failing to protect her daughter and said she had no idea her daughter was allegedly being harmed .
A number of relatives have told jurors they saw bruises on Maya in the weeks before her death and raised fears that Mr Daymond was hurting her.
Mr Daymond also denies child cruelty between 23 August and 29 September relating to multiple assaults on Maya.
Ms Carr also denies child cruelty, based on the prosecution’s assertion that she “covered up” for Mr Daymond and hid the abuse.
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