MOTHER HANDED SUSPENDED JAIL FOR BABY’S DEATH AFTER SHAKING AND NEGLECT
Details of the horrific abuse inflicted on a newborn baby have come to light after a mother learned her fate for her role in the death of her son.Kristie Lee Willmot's little boy Michael Willmot was killed in 2021.
At the time he was just 37 days old.
Willmot and her then partner, Robert Alan Gee, were initially charged with the baby's murder after he was found unresponsive at a Logan carpark in 2021.
But the pair pleaded guilty to downgraded charges when they faced court last week.
Willmot pleaded guilty to cruelty to children under the age of 16, committed between June 10-15, 2021.
Gee pleaded guilty to a single count of manslaughter, answering “no” when asked if he had anything else to say, news.com.au reports.
The court was told Willmot would visit Gee at his caravan park in Logan, and that she had left baby Michael in Gee's care for less than an hour while she went to source drugs for a friend.
During that short time, Michael became "unsettled" and "frustrated" and Gee, violently shook the baby for a few seconds before throwing him into a couch.
He then sent Willmot a message indicating Michael was "well and asleep”.
Willmot admitted in a text message, "I think I should have taken him to the hospital the other night.
Now I don't know what to do.
He's not getting better and truly scaring me.
But I can almost guarantee for us to take him in days later with an unknown injury, he wouldn't be coming home with me.
Child services already have me flagged for possible neglect." Over the following days, the baby's condition worsened, with his temperature soaring and refusing to feed.
The court accepted he would have been in immense pain.
Rather than seek medical help, Willmot recorded some symptoms on her phone and discussed with Gee about what might have happened.
On June 14, 2021, Michael stopped breathing and was declared dead by paramedics, four days after being injured.
An autopsy revealed "catastrophic injuries" consistent with shaking.
The court was told the defendant's failure to act in accordance with her obligations as a mother caused him harm during that period.
Willmot was co-operative but hid sourcing drugs at the time Gee shook her child.
While she was not criminally responsible for causing her child's death, her criminality was based on her neglect and failure to act.
Willmot was sentenced to four years' jail, suspended with her time in custody already served and walked free from court.
Gee will be sentenced on November 13.
