A mother who killed her four-month-old baby girl by violently shaking her has been jailed for 15 years. Melissa Wilband, 28, was found guilty by a jury of the manslaughter of Lexi Wilband, who collapsed at their home in Newent, Gloucestershire, in April 2020. During the trial, Wilband denied ever shaking Lexi and said she had a “bad wrist” that meant she was physically unable to shake her.
Bristol Crown Court heard tests revealed how Lexi died following bleeding on her brain, likely caused by being violently shaken, both recently and on at least one earlier occasion. Lexi died at Bristol Children’s Hospital, with a nurse holding her hand, on April 18 – six days after her collapse. Wilband’s former partner, Jack Wheeler, 31, was acquitted of causing or allowing Lexi’s death.
Mr Wheeler had also been charged with Lexi’s manslaughter, but this was formally withdrawn during the trial after prosecutors offered no evidence against him.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Saini said he was satisfied Wilband had shaken Lexi twice.
“Lexi was about four months old when she died. She was a healthy baby,” he said. “It is important that we recognise this is about her life being taken.
“You killed Lexi by violently shaking her at the family home in Newent.
“Lexi was killed by you when the country was in the first national Covid-19 lockdown.
“After the evening meal you were bathing Lexi and you shook Lexi, and immediately after this she went floppy. Your shaking of Lexi led to severe bleeding in her brain.
“I am sure on the evidence that Lexi had been shaken by you in another, less violent, incident before that Easter Sunday.
“Only you will know why you acted in the way you did.
“It is hard to imagine the pain that Lexi must have suffered both from the past violence and the violence that led to her death. She would have cried out in anguish.”
During the trial, jurors were told that Wilband and Mr Wheeler were in a relationship for about three years, but Lexi was conceived with another man in early 2019.
However, Wilband told Mr Wheeler, of Ledbury, Herefordshire, that he was the baby’s biological father and presented him with a fake DNA certificate that claimed he was “100%” the “father” of her then-unborn child.
A genuine DNA test after Lexi’s birth in November 2019 confirmed that Mr Wheeler was not biologically related to her, but he remained with Wilband and brought up Lexi as if she were his own child.
Jurors heard how Wilband, who had a volatile relationship with Mr Wheeler, took cocaine just six days after Lexi was born.
On April 12, 2020, Wilband made a 111 call from the new-build council house where she lived with Mr Wheeler and Lexi. She claimed Lexi had stopped breathing while in her bouncer chair.
Lexi was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and was intubated, with Wilband asked if she would like to hold her baby before the procedure took place. She declined to do so.
The infant was then transferred to Bristol Children’s Hospital, where Wilband told medics that Mr Wheeler had been carrying Lexi in her bouncer chair and was swinging it.
A decision was made to switch off Lexi’s ventilator on April 17, following the results of an MRI scan.
Jurors were told that Wilband spent three hours with Lexi that evening before leaving to go to sleep in a different part of the hospital.
Jane Osborne KC, prosecuting, said Wilband was aware that her baby might die during the night but did not stay at her bedside.
“A staff nurse held Lexi’s hand through the night and remained with her,” Ms Osborne said.
“On the morning of April 18, Lexi seemed to have longer pauses in her breathing. Ms Wilband was told to attend the ward.
“She arrived just after Lexi had ceased to show any signs of life and had stopped breathing.”
A post-mortem examination gave Lexi’s cause of death as bleeding to the brain, caused by a non-accidental traumatic event such as someone “shaking her violently”, Ms Osborne said.
Further tests found the areas of bleeding in Lexi’s eyes were “too numerous to count”, she added.
Giving evidence, Wilband denied ever shaking Lexi and said she had a “bad wrist” that meant she was physically unable to shake her, and sought to blame her partner.
Mr Wheeler said he had no idea why Lexi had collapsed and denied carrying her in the bouncer chair.