This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36197383
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Kandyce Downer murder accused guardian found guilty | Kandyce Downer murder accused guardian found guilty |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A woman has been convicted of murdering a toddler who had suffered more than 150 injuries. | A woman has been convicted of murdering a toddler who had suffered more than 150 injuries. |
| Kandyce Downer, 34, killed 18-month-old Keegan Downer, less than a year after she was appointed her legal guardian. | |
| Keegan, who died last September, had suffered brain and spinal injuries and had 153 scars and bruises to her face and body, at her house in Birmingham. | |
| Forensic testing at the house revealed traces of the girl's blood in her cot, Birmingham Crown Court heard. | |
| Downer had been appointed sole legal carer to Keegan, who died on 5 September, and has four other children, the jury was told. | |
| On the day Keegan died, the court was told that on finding the toddler "unwell" in her cot, she delayed calling 999 and instead drove off to dump the child's old blood-spotted mattress near a skip. | |
| More on this story and other news from Birmingham and the Black Country | |
| Born in March 2014 to a heroin-addict mother, Keegan was otherwise healthy was put with a foster carer by social services, the jury was told. | |
| Keegan was described in court as a "happy baby" and had lived at Downer's family home in Beckbury Road, Weoley Castle. | |
| Downer had told the court most of the "day-to-day" care of Keegan was down to her son and three younger children and claimed her eldest son may be to blame for the fatal injuries. |