Maya Chappell: Girl allegedly killed by mum's boyfriend suffered series of assaults, court hears

The alleged murder of a two-year-old girl came following "increasingly frequent assaults" on the toddler, a court has heard.

Maya Chappell died as a result of “a constellation of injuries” allegedly inflicted by Michael Daymond, 27, when she was in his sole care at home in Shotton Colliery, County Durham, last September, Teesside Crown Court was told.

She died in hospital two days later having never regained consciousness.

Daymond denies murder and a charge of child cruelty and will say the youngster was injured falling out of bed, jurors were told.

The girl’s mother Dana Carr, 24, denies charges of child cruelty by neglecting the two-year-old and allowing the death of her child.

The court heard Carr had repeatedly lied to Maya's father James Chappell about bruises on the youngster's body. Ben Nolan, KC, prosecuting, said Mr Chappell had repeatedly raised concerns with his ex-partner about the bruises.

The court heard that Carr went to work and left Maya in the care of Daymond on 28 September last year.

He was to make a 999 call, saying Maya was “gasping for breath” and although her eyes were open, it was “like she wasn’t there” and seconds later she stopped breathing.

Daymond was given instructions over the phone and the emergency services scrambled to save her but in vain.

Mr Nolan said a post-mortem examination concluded Maya had been subjected to a blunt force assault, like comprising severe shaking, perhaps combined with blunt force impacts, and had suffered extensive bruising.

He added: “A constellation of injuries that, in the opinion of the pathologist, had been deliberately inflicted and resulted in severe brain damage from which she could not recover.”

Her death was not a “one-off” event, the prosecution said, but the culmination of a series of assaults.

A study of Daymond and Carr’s phones, as well as witness statements, revealed concerns had been raised about the little girl.

Mr Nolan said her father had contacted police to find out whether Daymond had a history of domestic violence, as he was worried about his daughter being around him and told Carr she was failing to protect their child.

Carr was infatuated with her boyfriend, turned a “blind eye” to what was going on, and misled people around her about what was going on, the court was told.

Mr Nolan said their relationship, which only began in the summer of 2022, was intense and the two became “mutually dependent very quickly” and had begun living together only a month before Maya’s death.

Some weeks before she died, Maya’s father texted Carr about five marks on their daughter’s face and wanted to know what happened, the court heard.

Carr then asked a relative to lie to her ex-partner on her behalf about Maya’s bruises, the jury was told.

The following day, Mr Chappell contacted his ex-partner again to say how unlikely it was that the extent of the bruising was caused by a simple fall, and “if Maya had been seen in this condition at a nursery there would be an immediate referral to social services”, jurors heard.

Carr and Daymond then kept Maya off nursery with a series of lying excuses, Mr Nolan alleged.

She was then to claim to Mr Chappell that she was no longer with Daymond, and he would not be playing a part in Maya’s life, the prosecution said.

Mr Nolan said: “It was a lie that went to the heart of James Chappell’s perfectly proper fears for Maya’s safety at Mr Daymond’s hands.”

The trial continues.

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