A violent thug faces the prospect of life behind bars for murdering his ex-girlfriend’s two-year-old son after his period of sustained abuse was captured on secret mobile phone recordings.
Kemar Brown, 28, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of the murder of two-year-old Kyrell Matthews after subjecting him to months of beatings and taunting at a one-bedroom flat in Thornton Heath, south London.
The Metropolitan Police’s Detective Chief Inspector Kate Kieran said Brown would abuse the child ‘almost for fun’ and treated little Kyrell ‘like a punchbag in the gym’.
The toddler’s mother Phylesia Shirley, 24, – who previously worked in child services at Croydon Council – was acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter.
The court had previously heard snippets from the moment Shirley phones 111 for advice rather than 999 as she nonchalantly tells the operator her son’s body is ‘going floppy’ and his eyes are ‘rolling back’.
Asked what was wrong with him, she casually explains: ‘Basically Kyrell has been acting really funny.
‘Like, his body is flopping, and his eyes is rolling back and his chest is not breathing,’ he added.
Kyrell – who was non-verbal – had 41 rib fractures by the time he died at Croydon University Hospital on October 20, 2019, as well as internal bleeding and a 1.6in (4cm) cut to his liver.
Jurors were told the ‘happy and smiley’ toddler was likely subjected to a ‘significant period of abuse’ – with non-fatal injuries occurring after at least five separate attacks over a 28-day period.
Little Kyrell would still have been able to express the pain he had endured throughout the final days of his life despite being non-verbal, the court heard.
Officers were able to uncover audio evidence of both adults hitting Kyrell on multiple occasions by listening through secretly mobile phone recordings made by Shirley because she suspected her partner was cheating on her.
Those in court were visibly upset as they listed to audio files during the five-week trial in which Kyrell could be heard screaming as he was repeatedly beaten by Brown – who at once stage mimics the child’s cries.
Violent thug Kemar Brown, 28, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of the murder of two-year-old Kyrell Matthews after subjecting him to months of beatings and taunting at a one-bedroom flat in Thornton Heath, south London
Officers were able to uncover audio evidence of both adults hitting Kyrell on multiple occasions by listening through secretly mobile phone recordings made by a paranoid Phylesia Shirley, 24, (above) who suspected her partner was cheating on her
Two-year-old Kyrell Matthews (pictured) had 41 rib fractures by the time he died at Croydon University Hospital on October 20, 2019, as well as internal bleeding and a 1.6in (4cm) cut to his liver
The campaign of abuse that little Kyrell Matthews endured before his death
May 2019: Kyrell Matthews suffers a significant injury to the side of his face and spent five days in Croydon University Hospital. A hospital-led investigation finds that Shirley’s explanation that the boy had fallen from the sofa was ‘plausible’.
May 2019: Social services become aware of the couple and visit them at their home address.
July 17, 2019: A passer-by warns police of a domestic incident after hearing shouting and screaming coming from the one-bedroom flat in Thornton Heath, south London.
August 2019: Phylisia Stanley records her boyfriend Kemar Brown imitating Kyrell Matthews’ crying, shouting ‘stop crying, stop crying’ which is followed by two loud slapping sounds.
August 2019: Kyrell stays with grandparents but refuses to eat and whines all evening.
October 2019: Kyrell stays with relatives again but refuses to get out of the car to return to his mother’s flat.
October 20, 2019: Kyrell suffers cardiac arrest and is found with 41 fractured ribs that were ‘crushed or broken by blows’ and a 1.6 inch cut to his liver caused by blunt force trauma.
Brown, who has a string of prior convictions for violence, had tried claiming that the jury could not be sure if Kyrell had been accidentally killed when Shirley gave him chest compressions, having been wrongly advised in a 111 call to use two hands rather than one.
But experts for the prosecution rubbished that claim and said there were no recorded cases of a child suffering a macerated liver after being given CPR.
Both Shirley and Brown had consistently denied murder.
Shirley had previously admitted to to allowing death and serious physical harm to a child, Brown, who is not the child’s father, had repeatedly denied both charges.
The court heard Shirley dialled 111 for advice when her son’s body ‘was going floppy’ instead of 999 on 20 October 2019, the Old Bailey in London heard.
Shirley can be heard telling the operator: ‘Basically Kyrell has been acting really funny. Like, his body is flopping, and his eyes is rolling back and his chest is not breathing’.
Paramedics rushed Kyrell to Croydon University Hospital while police followed and talked to Brown about what had happened before the emergency services arrived.
As he made his way to the hospital, Brown claimed he had gone to the shops and found Kyrell sleeping when he returned, the court heard.
Brown said the toddler began to twitch and became limp as the couple tried to wake him, at which point the couple decided to call emergency services.
While Shirley was ‘distressed’ when emergency services arrived and became ‘hysterical’ when Kyrell was declared dead, it was said that Brown was calm and disengaged throughout.
Heartbreaking videos released on Friday show the playful nature of little Kyrell before his death.
In one clip, Phylesia Shirley can be seen carrying a decorated birthday cake over and sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to Kyrell, just five weeks before her son would be dead.
Another video shows Kyrell in his pyjamas on the sofa, as his mother films him giggling into the lens of the camera.
Jurors were previously shown footage from the body-worn camera of one of the police officers in which Brown can be heard saying: ‘It was like he [Kyrell] was having nightmares.
‘We didn’t know what was going on, we were watching as he was like, laying down’.
Jurors were told the ‘happy and smiley’ toddler was likely subjected to a ‘significant period of abuse’ – with non-fatal injuries occurring after at least five separate attacks over a 28-day period
Kyrell Matthews suffered a significant injury to the side of his face and spent five days in Croydon University Hospital just five months before his death. A hospital-led investigation finds that Shirley’s explanation that the boy had fallen from the sofa was ‘plausible’
Little Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson were let down by social services… Did child safeguarding failures contribute to the death of Kyrell Matthews too?
Kyrell Matthews had been on the radar of child services and social workers had visited the property belonging to his mother and her abusive partner at least once, it was confirmed today.
The Old Bailey heard how violent thug Kemar Brown, 28, would abuse the toddler ‘for fun’ and treated little Kyrell ‘like a punchbag in the gym’.
Social services had visited the family’s home in south London at least once in the months before Kyrell’s death.
The toddler was rushed to Croydon hospital and spent five days there after suffering a facial injury in May 2019. A hospital-led investigation finds that Shirley’s explanation that the boy had fallen from the sofa was ‘plausible’
And by July, neighbours had contacted police to warn them of a ‘domestic incident’ at Stanley’s flat involving shouting and screaming.
The news comes after the high profile case of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes broke hearts across the nation.
Solihull authorities had failed to save once ‘chubby, happy’ Arthur from a relentless campaign of both physical and mental torture, including being poisoned with salt by Tustin, while Hughes inflicted ‘pressure point’ torture techniques as they made him stand on his own for up to 14 hours a day.
After concerned relatives told the council about bruises on the youngster’s back, social worker Jayne Kavanagh and support worker Angela Scarlett-Coppage visited Tustin’s home but reported ‘no concerns’ after carrying out cursory checks.
Prior examples of child safeguarding failures include social workers investigating the couple who killed innocent Star Hobson, before clearing them five times and even declaring a referral to them was ‘malicious’ the week before she was murdered.
The authorities fell for mother Frankie Smith, 20, and her 28-year-old girlfriend Savannah Brockhill’s lies, despite a series of concerns raised by relatives.
The Early Intervention Foundation’s Dr Jo Casebourne has called for a national strategy on child vulnerability and funding for intervention services.
Brown told the officers he and Shirley tried to ‘feed Kyrell cornflakes, juice, and sweets to help wake him up’ as he lay unconscious – but he refused.
He said: ‘At first we got him cornflakes to see if he would eat at all.’
After Kyrell refused to eat, Brown told the officers Shirley then decided to call 111.
‘As she was on the phone I saw his eyes are rolling back. When he was born, he had problems breathing, I don’t really know.
‘It’s crazy, it’s crazy, it’s crazy. He was just lying down, we thought he was tired, sleeping, lazy really,
‘They said to do CPS, do mouth to mouth and then the next minute…’
Jurors were told that the ambulance arrived 12 minutes after the initial call and continued efforts to try and save the toddler’s life, but they were unable to maintain his heartbeat.
An NSPCC spokesperson said: ‘The pain and distress Kyrell experienced in the weeks leading up to his death, revealed through secret phone recordings, is heart-breaking.
‘The two people who should have cared for and protected him from harm were the ones who made his short life unbearable, and eventually ended it.
‘Their convictions are just the start of the process to uncover why a pattern of repeated and brutal assaults continued on a defenceless child.
‘Croydon council’s safeguarding practice review must establish the lessons that need to be learned to prevent this awful case from happening again.’
Jurors were not told that police had been called to an earlier domestic incident but no offences were identified and Kyrell was said to have appeared ‘safe and well’.
A passer-by had alerted officers on July 17, 2019 after hearing shouting and screaming coming from their flat, with a female voice saying: ‘Stop hitting my face.’
It followed an incident in May 2019 when Kyrell suffered a significant injury to the side of his face and spent five days in Croydon University Hospital.
The hospital carried out an investigation and found Shirley’s explanation that the little boy had fallen off a sofa and hit his head on a highchair was ‘plausible’, police said.
Both defendants, who were unemployed at the time of Kyrell’s death, were cannabis users and are understood to have been visited by social services at least once.
Brown even travelled to Northampton with four other men to raid a cannabis farm while under police investigation for murder.
It can now be reported that Brown had convictions for robbery, battery, having a knife, drugs and resisting an officer, as well as being subject to a non-molestation order relating to a former partner.
Edward Brown QC, prosecuting, previously told jurors at the Old Bailey: ‘Kyrell had his ribs crushed or broken by blows within the four weeks before October 20.
‘At least one of the defendants plainly inflicted a significant number of injuries in at least five separate incidents in the four weeks leading up to … Kyrell’s death.
‘The pain and distress in those four weeks when he was abused was brought vividly to the fore by those harrowing recordings.
‘On October 20, his ribs were crushed once more – it killed him.’
The court heard Shirley dialled 111 for advice when her Kyrell’s body ‘was going floppy’ instead of 999 on 20 October 2019
A court sketch of Phylesia Shirley, and her partner, Kemar Brown, at the Old Bailey in London
Adjourning sentencing until March 25, Judge Mark Lucraft QC noted that the court had heard some ‘harrowing’ recordings made by Shirley of the abuse, saying she ought to feel ‘utterly ashamed’.
Both defendants, who were unemployed at the time of Kyrell’s death, were cannabis users and are understood to have been visited by social services at least once
Paramedics rushed Kyrell (above) to Croydon University Hospital while police followed and talked to Brown about what had happened before the emergency services arrived
Police later discovered secret audio files on Shirley’s mobile phone – the apparent results of attempts to catch Brown being unfaithful – which inadvertently captured the abuse, the prosecution said.
They included multiple audio files where it appeared Kyrell was hit repeatedly, with Brown saying ‘shut up’, causing the toddler to cry and scream.
On another occasion, prosecutors said, Brown inflicted several blows on the little boy before telling him: ‘You have to ruin the fun.’
Another file, the prosecution said, captured Shirley striking her own child and causing him to cry in distress.
Shirley is said to have carried out the covert phone recordings at her one-bedroom flat to check whether then-partner Kemar Brown was secretly contacting other women.
However, police investigating the death of her son, Kyrell Matthews, discovered that the recordings contained disturbing evidence of the non-verbal boy being hit repeatedly, with Brown saying ‘shut up’, causing the toddler to cry and scream.
Prosecutor Mr Brown told jurors: ‘It makes for harrowing listening, because, say the prosecution, you will hear Kemar Brown hitting that child again and again on different days, and you will hear Kyrell crying and screaming as a result.’
Despite being non-verbal, jurors were told Kyrell (pictured in a month before his death) would still have been able to express the pain he had endured throughout the final days of his life
On one recording, the prosecution said Kyrell could be heard getting increasingly distressed amid ‘slapping sounds’ and ‘hitting noises’ as Brown told him to ‘shut up’.
Jurors were told Brown admits it is his voice on the recordings.
The prosecution said Shirley could then be heard asking ‘What did he do?’, to which Brown is said to have replied: ‘He got up’.
The prosecutor said: ‘Plainly, she (Shirley) has seen distress at the very least, expecting punishment of Kyrell having taken place by Kemar Brown.
‘It is plain, say the prosecution, what you can hear.’
In the fourth recording, taken in August 2019, Brown can be heard saying to Kyrell ‘Stop crying, stop crying, yeah,’ and imitating the baby’s cries, followed by two slapping sounds minutes apart.
Minutes later, Brown can be heard saying ‘What you crying for?’, followed by two hits or slaps, at which point Kyrell yelps and faintly cries.
Brown showed no emotion as the recordings were played in court.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10577571/Kemar-Brown-guilty-murder-toddler-Kyrell-Matthews.html
