A 20-year-old mother and her girlfriend choke-slammed the former's 16-month-old girl, a court was told during a murder trial Wednesday.
On Sept. 22, 2020, Star Alyssa Hobson from Keighley, West Yorkshire, died in a hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest. Bradford Crown Court heard that the toddler was stamped, kicked and choked while being slammed on the floor, reported Mirror.
Alicia Szepler, who is half-sister of the child's mom Frankie Smith, said that the “wrestling move” was used on the little girl. Smith and her girlfriend Savannah Brockhill have denied killing or causing the child's death.
According to Telegraph & Argus, prosecutor Alistair MacDonald QC asked Szepler to give an example of “handling of Star by the defendants which caused you concern.” She said, “They would do this thing with Star called the ‘choke-slam.'" She didn’t see it, but knew about it. Explaining further, she said that it was like a wrestling move. She added, "I said it’s a bit rough to be doing to a baby.”
Smith's mom, Yvonne Spendley, also told the court that she "would not stick up for her daughter" if she was responsible for the baby's death.
Brockhill reportedly said that "we are going down for murder" after Hobson died.
According to Daily Mail, Smith developed an unhealthy and strange obsession with Brockhill at the expense of her little one. Szepler said that "everything changed" when the couple started dating, and added that a "disconnect" emerged between Smith and her toddler daughter.
After seeing a video showing bruises on the child's face, Smith's brother, Benjamin, also got concerned for the child's welfare. Later he saw his sister out drinking while her child was left with a baby sitter, and that left Benjamin fuming. He said that he was disgusted the child had been "dumped with a sitter again so they could go out drinking."
He explained to the court that initially he found his sister to be a good mom, and said that she had chosen to stay with her daughter in the house that he shared with his mom, Anita, and her partner, David Fawcett. He said that his sister came down one day and told Anita that she needed help and couldn't have the child, and Anita agreed to have her.
Benjamin said that his sister's behavior towards her daughter seemed to change as time went on and it looked like she was more interested in going to the pub than taking care of her baby.
On May 4 last year, Anita referred Smith to social services as her concern over the child’s welfare grew.
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