A teenager has been handed an indefinite sentence after shaking his partner’s baby to death, causing ‘catastrophic’ brain injuries, when he was 16-years-old.
Carl Alesbrook, now aged 19, caused whiplash-type injuries, bleeding on the brain and multiple bone fractures to four-month-old Elijah Shemwell seven weeks after meeting his mother, India Shemwell, in November 2021.
Elijah died on January 5, 2022, three days after he was found limp, pale and drowsy at Shemwell’s home in Belper, Derbyshire.
The defendant, previously of Upper Greenhill Gardens, Matlock in Derbyshire, denied murdering Elijah but was unanimously convicted after a five-week trial in July and was handed a minimum term of 14 years, minus the time he has already served, at Derby Crown Court on Friday.
His ex-partner, Shemwell, who was 21 at the time but is now 24, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment at the same court after she admitted two counts of child cruelty in December last year.
Police bodycam and interview footage revealed how Alesbrook smirked as he was questioned by police and called cops ‘boring’ in video that helped convict him.
Video of his initial contact with police and later interviews showed him admitting to leaving the baby unsupervised and taking drugs before he was meant to look after the four-month-old.
He was often looking after Elijah while the baby’s mother, Shemwell, was at work.
Shemwell was described during her ex-partner’s trial as ‘a thoroughly inadequate mother’ who both generally and specifically neglected Elijah and failed to seek prompt medical attention for him on both January 1 and 2, 2022.
He said defenceless Elijah was ‘being a little c***’ and complained that the baby kept spitting his dummy out. But he denied being ‘unduly angered or irritated’ by the child.
Medical evidence presented at the trial showed Elijah suffered brain damage from being shaken on at least three separate occasions.
He also had 17 bruises around his chest, back and stomach consistent with grip marks.
He also suffered rib and limb fractures, while his fatal head injuries were described in court as ‘catastrophic’.
The court heard Shemwell sent a video of Elijah unresponsive with a floppy arm to friends on Facebook to ask for advice on his condition on January 1.
The jury also saw CCTV of Shemwell visiting a shop and buying milk and Coca-Cola on the night of the fatal assault.
Jurors were told Shemwell also filmed Elijah struggling to breathe before she dialled 999 at 10.33pm on January 2, leading to him being taken by paramedics to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham. He died three days later on January 5.
The court heard Shemwell had separated from Elijah’s father but ‘remained emotionally and sexually involved’ with him, which may have caused Alesbrook some frustration.
The prosecution alleged that a toothache suffered by Alesbrook at the time may also have caused him to lose his temper with Elijah.
Alesbrook denied that his tooth pain caused him to lash out at the baby and denied feeling jealous towards Shemwell’s ex-partner.
The arrogant killer even gave a ‘no comment’ interview when he was quizzed by police about how little Elijiah had received his catastrophic injuries.
Shemwell was described during her ex-partner’s trial as ‘a thoroughly inadequate mother’ who both generally and specifically neglected Elijah and failed to seek prompt medical attention for him on both January 1 and 2.
Prosecutor Vanessa Marshall KC said Shemwell ‘failed to prioritise the needs of Elijah over her own’ and should have known Elijah was ‘testing Mr Alesbrook’s patience’.
She said: ‘It is the prosecution’s case that she should have appreciated shortly after he had been shaken, for probably the second time, that Elijah was very unwell and needed medical attention.
‘That is particularly the case when she would have seen, as we have, fresh bruising on Elijah’s face.’
Shemwell’s defence lawyer Darron Whitehead said: ‘She knows she has let down her son, she knows she has let herself down, and she has let down her family.
‘It is her inactivity, it’s her failings, that will haunt her for the rest of her life. She misses Elijah and no matter what is said in this room, or in writing, she loved her son.’
A victim impact statement by Shemwell’s mother, Rachel Shemwell, read to the court by Ms Marshall, said her daughter was ‘not the best of mums’ and things could have ‘turned out differently’ if she had asked for help.
She wrote: ‘We will never get Elijah back and can only remember the happiness he brought us in his short life.’
Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said: ‘The effect of Eli’s death on those who loved him is evident. Nothing this court can do will assuage their overwhelming sense of loss.’
The judge told Alesbrook: ‘There is only one sentence that can be imposed and that is detention at His Majesty’s Pleasure.’
Detective Chief Inspector Greg McGill, who led the investigation into Elijah’s death, said: ‘While a child himself, even a teenager knows the fatal risks posed by shaking a four-month-old baby boy.
‘The force used to squeeze his tiny body broke his ribs – while the shaking caused such significant damage that his brain became starved of oxygen leading to his death.
‘While India was quite simply an appalling mother, she could never have foreseen the brutal actions of Alesbrook.
‘However, it is quite clear that she could and should have taken far better care of Elijah and she will have to live with the consequences of both her action and inaction for the rest of her life.’
Below are seven shocking moments from Alesbrook’s interactions with police…
After two female police officers first enter his flat, the 16-year-old described how little Elijah’s arms had been limp.
The killer said: ‘He’s been alright and then last night me and India both thought he had a toothache.
‘He was practically screaming for a good hour and then he went to like a conscious state but he wasn’t.
‘His eyes were partially open but if you lifted his arm up it would just drop.
‘He was breathing so it was like he was there but he wasn’t, and kind of just gave him time to come back round, let him go back to sleep and then he was fine.
‘He did it again earlier on.’
Officers questioned who was looking after the baby when his mother was out and Alesbrook was asleep.
One of the officers asked: ‘So when [India Shemwell] and you were saying you were asleep, who was looking after [the baby]?’
The murderer replied: ‘He was asleep himself. He woke me up by crying.’
The policewoman said: ‘Right, so no one actually supervising him at that time.’
By this point, the teenage killer had removed his hoodie to reveal a gold watch and blue T-shirt.
When asked whether he had taken drugs, his first reaction was to lie.
‘No,’ he said, before adding: ‘Er, I mean truthfully I had a joint earlier on when I was out’.
The police officer confirmed with the teenage killer that is was a joint of cannabis that he had smoked.
While one officer talked with her bosses, Alesbrook went downstairs ‘for a fag’.
After he lit up his cigarette, the teenager who shook baby Elijah so violently it died said: ‘It’s been one hell of a start of a year already.
‘I had toothache, so I ended up having codeine to try and numb the pain of that, and then I ended up throwing that up at three in the morning on the first night of the year.’
‘And then the second night, the kid.’
When a woman called him on his mobile, he laughed and joked about the emergency services.
The sick thug swore as he paced around while taking puffs of his cigarette.
The killer said: ‘Jesus Christ, f***’s sake.’
He laughed, adding: ‘The police, ambulance. Do you want to get a fire engine as well?’
During his police interview, cops said: ‘You confirmed [to the police officers] you sent a message saying ”Where are you?”
‘This was a lie. There is no message saying ”Where are you?”
‘We have interrogated your phone and this is not confirmed on there. What do you have to say about this?’
Leaning back, his head resting against the wall, the killer replied: ‘F*** all.’
A policewoman said to Alesbrook: ‘You repeated the same account in subsequent police interviews in that you were asleep in India’s flat on January 2 and you were not aware that India had left the flat.
‘You were also asked to confirm your previous accounts today on interview and again, you initially maintained the same account of being asleep, and then changed this account today when you were presented with evidence to state that you now cannot remember.
‘What do you have to say about that?
The killer replied: ‘I say you’re boring, man.’