A series of haunting images show a teenage mum partying on a six-day bender to celebrate her 18th birthday, while she left her baby starving to death.
Verphy Kudi, now 19, abandoned her 20-month-old daughter while she went away to celebrate with her boyfriend and friends in both London and Coventry.
Kudi has been jailed for nine years after being found guilty of manslaughter, in what her lawyer described as a "truly tragic and devastating case".
And now a series of photos released by Sussex Police are painting a picture of the teen mother’s movements in the days leading up to little Asiah’s death.
CCTV footage captured within Gocher Court, the Brighton accommodation for vulnerable families in which Kudi and Asiah lived, showed Kudi on the way out of the housing complex on December 5 in 2019, dressed in blue jeans and a black sweatshirt, with a black bag slung over her shoulder.
Kudi left Brighton on Tuesday December 5 and travelled to London, where she kicked off an extended period of celebrations with her boyfriend.
Images taken from Kudi’s mobile phone, which were captured two days later on December 8, next show her partying at a concert in London’s Elephant and Castle, hair in a high ponytail with an entry band around her wrist.
One such snap shows the teenager attempting to block her face from whoever is taking the image; the picture is blurry with the flash illuminating her face in the dark venue.
The courtroom heard during Kudi’s sentencing on Friday of how she attended the 1990s concert in Elephant and Castle, staying out until 4am, and even having a DJ announce her birthday.
On December 9, she moved on to a birthday party in Coventry, 150 miles from Brighton.
She travelled back to London the next day, before returning home to East Sussex on December 11.
The next image, a screengrab taken on the 11th, a Monday, is believed to capture Kudi just moments before she entered her flat to find Asiah’s dead body.
According to ITV reports, the young mother called 999 on her arrival home, telling the operator "help, my baby is not waking up" after finding her daughter unresponsive.
Ambulance staff arrived at Kudi's Brighton flat shortly after 6pm on December 11 to find her "incoherent, distressed and distraught" and her daughter lying on the floor.
They rushed Asiah to the city's Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital, but medical staff were unable to revive her.
A post-mortem examination and forensic tests determined the overall cause of Asiah's death was "neglect"; a combination of starvation, dehydration and the flu.
Judge Christine Laing QC, sentencing Judi, noted that the teen had left her daughter unable to do anything to draw attention to her plight.
"She was a helpless child and relied completely on you as her mother to provide for her needs," Judge Laing said.
"It is almost unbearable to contemplate her suffering in the final days of her life, suffering that she endured so that you could celebrate your birthday and the birthdays of your friends as a carefree teenager."
The judge noted it was being accepted that Kudi had not intended to bring about Asiah's death, nor to cause her serious harm.
Kudi reportedly stood motionless as she was jailed for nine years and taken away by court staff.
