Bristol woman jailed for 15 years for killing 4-month-old daughter and trying to cover up her crime

Melissa Wilband, 28, had denied killing Lexi Wilband, but was found guilty of manslaughter following a four-week trial. The mother, who would regularly take cocaine while in the presence of her child, shook the tragic tot on 'more than one occasion,' the court heard.

She returned to Bristol Crown Court today (Mon) and was sentenced to 15 years. The court heard Lexi collapsed at her home in Newent, in the Forest of Dean on 12 April 2020 during the first Covid lockdown. She died six days later in hospital.

Medical experts explained how Lexi had died following catastrophic brain injuries which were consistent with being shaken. The trial was told damage caused to her brain was consistent with Lexi having been shaken at least once in the weeks or months leading up to her death, as well as on the day in question.

Wilband's boyfriend at the time, Jack Wheeler, had also been charged with manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child. He was not Lexi's biological father. However, after both gave evidence in court, the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence for the manslaughter charge for 31-year-old Wheeler and the charge was removed.

The jury later found him not guilty of a charge of causing or allowing the death of a child. Sentencing her today, The Honourable Mr Justice Saini  said Lexi was a "healthy baby" and a "delightful and smiley girl."

He told Wilband: "You killed Lexi by violently shaking her. While bathing her, you shook her and immediately after this she went floppy. Your extreme shaking led to extreme bleeding  in her brain.

"It was obvious such violent actions would carry at least risk of very serious injury. I am not persuaded anything in the report can explain your violence towards Lexi. You were otherwise a loving mother although you lived a chaotic personal lifestyle

"It is hard to imagine the pain Lexi must have suffered during both historical violence and the violent shaking that led to her death."

The judge said Lexi was shaken while being bathed and the defendant later tried to "shift the blame" towards Jack. Wilband was told she would serve two thirds of the 15-year sentence and the remainder under licence.

The trial was earlier told how Wilband told a spiral of lies, including how she faked a paternity test to falsely claim Wheeler was Lexi's biological father. She also lied about their use of cocaine while looking after her children.

Wilband, who tried to blame Wheeler for the shaking, took cocaine throughout her pregnancy and there was evidence that she took cocaine six days after Lexi was born. It was heard in court how she and Wheeler would regularly take cocaine while in bed with Lexi in her basket alongside them.

Wilband lied to medical professionals and missed several appointments. It was suggested by the prosecution that she might have missed appointments in order to prevent a doctor noticing that something was wrong with Lexi after she had been shaken.

Evidence was also heard that Wilband had researched online for 'baby screaming'. In a victim impact statement read to the court today, Jack Wheeler's mother Donnah Davies said, although she was not Lexi's paternal grandparent, "from the day she was born to the moment she died she was our granddaughter."

She told the court: "She was a beautiful, quiet little baby girl and we loved her. The day Lexi died, both Paul (Jack's father) and I went to hospital in Bristol and it is a day we will never forget. I picked up Lexi in my arms to say goodbye. She looked so peaceful.  I can clearly remember what lovely long eyelashes she had. 

"I could not understand or comprehend why she was no longer with us."

Donnah said the following days were a "blur" and said she 'lost the ability to function." She described her son's arrest as "overwhelming" and said Lexi's death had "consumed" the family for the last five years.

She said: "Ledbury is a small community and with Jack being under investigation some people automatically assumed he was guilty. I tried to be strong for my family but the stress and worry of it made me extremely anxious.

"Lexi was only in our lives for a short time but Paul and I will never forget her. Lexi, a little four and a half month baby lost her life, all those who knew and loved her will never see her again. Lexi's death is something Paul and I will carry with us for the rest of our lives. We are irreversibly changed."

Prosecutors told the court that Lexi was shaken so hard by Wilband on at least two occasions that this caused brain damage which Lexi could not recover from. The events that evening, 12 April 2020, were described differently by Wilband and Wheeler in court, and were contradictory in parts.

It was heard how there were other aspects of Wilband's behaviour in the months which preceded Lexi's death which showed how it was Wilband who was responsible for her daughter's injuries.

On the night Lexi collapsed, the court was told that Wilband did not call 999 for an ambulance, but instead dialled 111 - the non-emergency NHS number. She hung up before getting past the automated message and then phoned her father who advised her to dial 999.

However, she again dialled 111. It took over three and a half minutes from first dialling 111 for Wilband to speak with emergency services. When paramedics attended, Wilband lied to them about the circumstances that led to Lexi's collapse. She continued to repeatedly lie to doctors at the hospital.

Shortly after her arrival at hospital Wilband messaged Wheeler telling him to lie about what had happened that evening. Those messages had been deleted from Wilband's phone but were present on Wheeler's phone.

In his initial account to police, Wheeler, of Coachmans Court, Ledbury went along with what Wilband had told him to say. However, he changed that account in subsequent police interviews and in his evidence in court.

Wilband also told Wheeler to burn drugs bags that were in her bedside drawer so that they would not be found. Again these messages were deleted from Wilband's phone. An investigation was launched by Gloucestershire Constabulary's Major Crime Investigation Team on 13 April 2020 when doctors had identified that Lexi's injuries were non-accidental and had been inflicted.

Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Adam Stacey said: “Lexi was four-and-a-half months old when she died.

"Melissa Wilband inflicted such serious injuries that were sadly to prove fatal and tragically Lexi passed away six days later, despite the best efforts of all the medical staff who tried to save her. Further medical evidence showed that Lexi had suffered at least one other episode of shaking at some point before this one.

"Wilband told lie after lie after lie - right from Lexi's conception, and all the way throughout the pregnancy. These lies continued and were made to medical professionals trying to save Lexi's life, to the police, and all the way through to her giving evidence in court. The jury saw those lies for what they were.

"Lexi should be five years old now with her whole future ahead of her. She was shaken by someone who should have been protecting her. Someone who should have put her safety and wellbeing above everything else, her mother. Wilband did not do those things and in fact did the exact opposite. She now faces the consequences of her actions."