Elijah Shemwell: Teenager shook four-month-old to death after sending Snapchat to mum calling baby a c***t

Carl Alesbrook, now 19, from Matlock, Derbyshire, inflicted severe injuries on Elijah Shemwell, including brain bleeding, whiplash-like injuries, and multiple bone fractures, just seven weeks after meeting the child's mother, India Shemwell, in November 2021.

Despite denying any harm to Elijah, Alesbrook was unanimously convicted of both murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent by the jury at Derby Crown Court. Medical evidence presented during the five-week trial indicated that Elijah suffered brain damage from being shaken on at least three separate occasions, as well as 17 bruises around his chest, back, and stomach consistent with grip marks. The fatal head injuries were described as "catastrophic."

During the trial, Alesbrook claimed he cared for Elijah while Shemwell was working away from her home in Acorn Drive, Belper, Derbyshire. However, the court was informed that Alesbrook had sent a Snapchat message to Shemwell days before Elijah was hospitalised, calling the baby a “c***”. He denied being "unduly angered or irritated" by the child.

India Shemwell, who was 21 at the time and is now 23, admitted to two counts of child cruelty, including failing to call emergency services promptly when Elijah became unwell. On January 1, she sent a video of Elijah, unresponsive with a floppy arm, to friends on Facebook seeking advice on his condition.

CCTV footage showed Shemwell visiting a shop on the night of the fatal assault. She also filmed Elijah struggling to breathe before dialing 999 at 10.33pm on January 2. Elijah was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, where he died three days later on January 5.

Prosecutor Vanessa Marshall KC described Shemwell as "a thoroughly inadequate mother" who neglected Elijah and failed to seek prompt medical attention for him on January 1 and 2. However, she emphasised that Shemwell did not cause Elijah's injuries, saying: “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.”

Both Alesbrook and Shemwell will be sentenced on a date to be fixed for their parts in Elijah’s death and neglect. Adjourning the case, High Court Judge Mr Justice Jeremy Baker excused the members of the jury from jury service for the next 10 years.

Opting not to order pre-sentence reports, the judge said of Alesbrook: “I know something of his background, which in any view is relatively sad.” He then told Alesbrook, who faces a mandatory life term: “There is only one sentence that can be imposed but part of that sentence will be a determination of the minimum term that you will have to serve.”