A man has been found guilty of murdering his partner’s three-year-old son, who died in 2018 from severe abdominal injuries after weeks of “horrendous” cruelty.
Nathaniel Pope, 32, was found unanimously guilty at Birmingham crown court on Tuesday, while Kemarni Watson Darby’s mother, 30-year-old Alicia Watson, was cleared of murdering her son but found guilty of causing or allowing the child’s death.
Kemarni suffered more than 20 rib fractures in weeks of beatings before his death, with experts saying his body had been subjected to force similar to a car crash. Watson and Pope both blamed each other for the injuries, while the jury was told the pair were “partners in crime” who continued to live together for several months after Kemarni’s death.
Giving evidence during the trial, Watson said she left her son at home in West Bromwich with Pope on 5 June 2018 while she did the school run. She said she returned to find Kemarni lying on the sofa “staring into space” and floppy and unresponsive, prompting her to call 999.
Watson told police at the time Pope had never done anything around her son to cause her concern, but during the trial she said she believed he was responsible for the boy’s death.
Kemarni was taken to hospital and placed on a life support machine, which was turned off later that evening when doctors established he would not be able to breathe unaided.
Pope, who had previous convictions for common assault, burglary and possession of heroin with intent to supply, is said to have “crushed” Kemarni’s ribcage in the fatal attack.
The prosecution said Kemarni had been subjected to “extremely painful” assaults in the months before his death and was left with a split abdomen and major internal bleeding after the brutal assault. A forensic pathologist said the type of injuries Kemarni sustained were normally seen in a fall from a height or in a road traffic collision, and there was also evidence of older injuries including fractures to his ribs.
He also suffered extensive internal bruising and lacerations to his liver and colon.
Watson told jurors she had taken her son to a GP walk-in centre on the day of his death, with medical notes saying he had been vomiting for five days and was “not his usual self”. Staff prescribed the boy rehydration medication for what was thought to be a viral stomach bug.
Kemarni’s father, Darren Darby, told the trial he knew his son was being slapped, punched and kicked by his “strict” mother and said he had warned Watson to be cautious of Pope.
“Everybody did know that she was beating Kemarni. We all let him down,” he said.
Sam Evans, the manager of Kemarni’s nursery, raised concerns to Watson about injuries, including a split lip, on two occasions, and other family members had also noticed bruising.
Pope, of Wolverhampton, and Watson, of Handsworth, Birmingham, were also convicted of a single count each of child cruelty to Kemarni between 1 May and 5 June 2018, relating to the infliction of rib fractures and an abdominal injury prior to the fatal injury.
The pair were also separately convicted of two further counts of child cruelty in relation to other children. Both will be sentenced at a later date.
