Former nursery assistant guilty of killing baby son

A former children's nursery assistant and her partner have been found guilty of killing their eight-month-old son.

Devaun Rose-Turner, who lived with his parents in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, died nearly four years ago after suffering a "catalogue" of injuries.

His father, Emmanuel Turner, 33, was on Wednesday found guilty of murder after a trial at Luton Crown Court. Devaun's mother, Shandies Rose, 29, who used to work at a nursery in London, was convicted of manslaughter.

They are due to be sentenced next year.

Rose, who has a degree in early childhood studies, and Turner were also found guilty of causing or allowing a child to suffer serious injury.

Both Rose and Turner had pleaded not guilty to all charges but the jury reached unanimous guilty verdicts.

Judge Mrs Justice Farbey, who oversaw the trial, said she aimed to pass sentence on 24 February.

Mark Heywood KC, prosecuting, had told jurors how an emergency call was made early on 11 December 2021 from the family's flat in Blunham Road.

Turner told paramedics that his son had stopped breathing, jurors heard.

Mr Heywood said doctors found a "catalogue of injuries", including:

• Multiple rib fractures "suspected to be the result of physical abuse"

• A fracture to the upper jaw

• A fracture to the nasal bone

• A spine fracture

• A "severe stomach rupture"

Mr Heywood said evidence indicated that Devaun had suffered "significant blunt force trauma", and that his head had been "banged on a hard surface".

"[Devaun] died as a result of complications [from] serious injuries that he had suffered in the latter stages of his short life," Mr Heywood told the trial.

"Many of the injuries had been inflicted in the last 12 or so hours."

The prosecutor said there were also signs that other injuries had been inflicted earlier.

He said neighbours had heard noises in the hours before Devaun died.

One heard a "loud thud", another heard a loud argument and Miss Rose "screaming", and another neighbour said they heard "banging" and a "baby crying".

Mr Heywood added: "There is a picture of some significant event happening in the hours of darkness."

He said no parent of a child of that age could have "failed to know" about the type of injuries Devaun suffered, and Rose and Turner had inflicted, encouraged or assisted in the infliction of injuries.

Rose decided not to give evidence at the trial. Turner gave evidence over several days.

He said he had fallen down stairs during the early hours of 11 December while he was carrying Devaun, and he suggested the baby's injuries had been caused by the fall and by his attempts at CPR.

Turner, who worked as a sub-contractor for the Passport Office, had been off work because of Covid-19 when Devaun died, jurors heard.

Mr Heywood said Rose, whose degree was from London Metropolitan University, had taken a paediatric first aid course.

She had worked as an assistant at a children's nursery in London but was not working when she was living in Biggleswade.

Turner told jurors that he and Rose began a relationship after meeting outside a Tesco in Hackney, east London, in the summer of 2019.

"She said she looked after children at a nursery," he said. "Her plan was one day to own her own nursery."

Turner said they had both lived in London before setting up home in Biggleswade. He said he had a business management degree and had planned to run a real estate investment business.

Rose and Turner had been released pending further investigation after they were arrested.

They had gone abroad and been charged after returning to the UK earlier this year, jurors were told.

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