By Comfort Asemota
A young mother in the United Kingdom has been sentenced to nine years and six months in prison for the death of her three-month-old daughter after violently shaking the infant.
According to Sky News, Nazli Merthoca, 24, gave birth prematurely to Kaylani Kalanzi, who spent 29 days in hospital before being discharged into her parents’ care on May 13, 2024.
Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC told the Old Bailey that Merthoca was in a “mutually abusive relationship” with the child’s father, Herbert Kalanzi. The baby had been known to social services even before birth and was placed under a child protection plan due to safeguarding concerns.
The court heard that the parents were required to demonstrate they were fit to care for the child, with Mr Kalanzi agreeing to attend a fatherhood programme. However, prosecutors said the safeguarding strategy failed, and the risks to the infant became fatal on July 8, 2024.
Emergency services were called shortly before 10:30pm after Kaylani stopped breathing at Merthoca’s grandmother’s flat in Homerton, east London. Paramedics were not informed that the baby had been shaken, which caused severe brain bleeding, eye damage, and fractures to her leg and ribs.
Kaylani was admitted to hospital with catastrophic brain injuries and multiple fractures. She died 15 days later.
Hospital staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital told the court that Merthoca became distressed during questioning and claimed she was being unfairly blamed because of her race and gender.
The prosecution said Merthoca lost her temper due to mounting pressures and failed to engage constructively with social workers. Her defence lawyer, Benjamin Aina KC, told the court she had endured a difficult upbringing, including childhood abuse, time in care, grooming by older men, and struggles with substance use.
Merthoca was tried in October and cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter by a jury.
Sentencing her on Monday, Judge Mark Lucraft KC described Kaylani’s death as “the loss of a precious life,” telling Merthoca she would have to live with the knowledge of causing her daughter’s death.
Mr Kalanzi was also tried for causing or allowing the baby’s death but was cleared by jurors and formally acquitted of murder. Neither defendant gave evidence during the trial.
