Teen mum who fractured newborn son’s skull and left body in bin bag on doorstep sobs as she’s found guilty of murder
23 June 2023, 14:15 | Updated: 23 June 2023, 14:19
A mum who gave birth aged 15 has been convicted of murdering her newborn baby after he was found in a bin bag on the front doorstep with a fractured skull.
Paris Mayo, now 19, cried in the dock at Worcester Crown Court on Friday as the jury announced she had been found guilty of murdering her newborn baby, Stanley.
Mayo was aged 15 when she gave birth in her home in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire alone in her parents’ living room on 23 March 2019.
The court heard that Mayo had assaulted Stanley after giving birth, leaving him with a fractured skull and then stuffed five woollen cotton balls down his throat to suffocate him when he started to show signs of life. She then put his body in a bin bag and left it on the front doorstep before heading to bed.
The following morning, Mayo’s mother found the bloodstained bag on the doorstep with Stanley inside and called 999, the court heard.
Mayo denied responsibility for her son’s complex skull fractures which were thought to have been caused by a foot on his head.
She alleged instead that his head hit the floor during labour and that he was already dead when born as the umbilical cord was around his neck.
But jurors were told that it is thought the baby lived for a little over two hours.
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The now 19-year-old also repeatedly denied throughout the trial to having known she was pregnant, attributing morning sickness to a “stomach bug” or having “eaten something that disagreed” with her.
Mayo attended Hereford Country Hospital afterwards with Stanley, when she was asked why she had kept her pregnancy from her mum.
She reportedly said: “She's got a lot going on with dad."
The court also heard that Mayo’s father, Patrick Mayo, had been suffering from serious health problems at the time of the birth, as he was upstairs receiving home dialysis, a treatment for kidney disease, from Mayo’s mother on the night she gave birth.
Patrick then died 10 days after the incident.
When she was asked how she felt about the death of her son, said: “It makes me feel really horrible because I knew I didn't want to hurt him.
“I do feel stupid that I didn't go and tell anyone and get help. I loved him. I always think about what he would be like and how he would have been.”
The jury took a total of eight hours and 38 minutes to finalise their guilty verdict, as they also considered a charge of infanticide.
Mr Justice Garnham thanked jurors after they delivered the verdict for what had been a “difficult and stressful case”.
Mayo will be sentenced on Monday.
Detective Inspector Julie Taylor of West Mercia Police said: "Paris Mayo, who was 15 years old at the time, claimed Stanley was born cold, did not make any noise and hit his head on the floor when he was born.
"She did not alert anyone to the birth of Stanley, or the fact he had died. She claimed she did not know she was pregnant at the time.
"Today, following a six-week trial at Worcester Crown Court a jury found Mayo was in fact responsible for his death; and attempted to conceal her pregnancy from those who could've, and would've, supported her.
"The death of a newborn baby is utterly heartbreaking, even more so when the person who is responsible is the baby's own mother.
"This has been a devastating case for the investigative team to deal with and I would like to thank those involved for their outstanding efforts to ensure justice has been done today."
