A stepfather launched a fatal ‘frantic’ attack on a two-year-old girl before texting her mother to say: ‘How are we going to relax later?’, a murder trial was heard.
Kyle Bevan, 31, sent a series of messages to his girlfriend Sinead James, 30, while their daughter Lola James was critically ill in hospital.
The girl suffered 101 different injuries and died from a catastrophic brain injury that prosecutors say was caused in an “extremely violent attack”, allegedly carried out at her Pembrokeshire home by Bevan.
Swansea Crown Court heard Bevan tell James, who is on trial for causing or allowing the death of a child, that he had a “love-hate” relationship with the girl.
In a text, Bevan told James he would “never hurt her” before adding: “Neither do you, honey. Lola loves you and she has a love hate thing with me lol xxxxx. Then, as the police boarded up James’s house, Bevan texted him asking, “How are we going to sleep and relax later?”
Lola suffered extensive damage to each part of both retinas along with catastrophic brain injury and died four days later.
Kyle Bevan, 31, is said to have killed the two-year-old before waiting an hour to call for medical help.
Lola’s mother, Sinead James, 30, has been charged with causing or enabling the death of a child.
Prosecutor Caroline Rees KC said he was arrested shortly after 4:30 p.m. on July 17, 2020 after asking James what he was going to tell the police.
The court heard James reply: ‘Well, I’m saying exactly what you told me. I can remember what you said word for word.
Ms Rees said: “The prosecution say they were clearly concerned about the interview process because phone records show that at 3:15 p.m. they contacted Sinead James to ensure she was going to give a version consistent with the hers”.
A court heard that Bevan had been left alone downstairs with Lola in the family home when he launched an “extremely violent and frenzied attack”.
But he didn’t call an ambulance right away, instead filming a “disturbing 22-second movie” of Lola severely injured as he tried to hold her up.
The footage was taken 26 minutes after Bevan had already conducted a series of Internet searches at 6:32 a.m.
One search read: ‘My two-year-old son has just been hit in the head and is limp and snoring. What happen?’
The court heard that Lola suffered 101 superficial injuries along with a catastrophic brain injury and died four days later at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital in Cardiff.
Lola James suffered 101 injuries, including catastrophic brain injury, court heard
Mama James told the police that she was asleep when Lola suffered a series of horrific injuries, stating that she had no reason to think Bevan would hurt her.
A court has heard that James failed to protect his daughter when he allowed Bevan to move into his home four months earlier in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.
Ms Rees said she knew her boyfriend had a “nasty and violent temper” but chose to “prioritize her relationship with him over the physical safety of her own daughter.”
The court heard that Bevan conducted Internet searches at 6:32 a.m. before waiting until 7:28 a.m. to tell his mother, Alison Bevan, to call an ambulance.
Mrs Rees said: ‘He needed time to cover his tracks. When the paramedics arrived they found that Lola had been dressed but she was wet and that Lola was seriously ill.
Bruises were observed on Lola’s forehead. Kyle Bevan kept trying to explain things away by blaming the family dog for pushing Lola down the stairs.
The court heard that doctors found 101 superficial injuries on Lola, including ‘bruises all over her little body and abrasions on the skin’.
He also suffered extensive damage to every part of both retinas along with catastrophic brain injury and died four days later.
Bevan claimed that Lola had two falls: the first fall when she fell from the ladder of a bunk bed in her bedroom at night, and the second fall in the morning when the dog pushed her down the stairs.
Photos from police crime scene investigators showed a “sparkling clean bathroom” while the rest of the house was littered with things and toys.
A search of the house revealed a ‘boy’s blood and vomit stained gray underwear’ in the living room and curtains and a sheet in the washing machine.
James, pictured outside court, denies causing or allowing the death of a child
Previously, the jury heard how James was told his lover was dangerous just eight days before he allegedly murdered his daughter.
A court heard that the concerned woman messaged James on Facebook to say Bevan was a “child protection risk” just eight days before he allegedly attacked Lola.
The message read: ‘I am concerned that he is close to his children.’
Bevan’s mother, Alison, who received a ‘disturbing 22-second film’ from her son showing Lola injured as he tried to hold her, said she did not watch the video and waited until she was told to call an ambulance at 7. :28 a.m.
She said: ‘I could kick myself and that’s what I have to live with for the rest of my life. I should have acted faster.
Ms Bevan said she has never seen the video of Lola showing Bevan trying to pick her up as she falls to the ground with a thud.
She said: ‘I have never seen that video to this day. I was too scared to see it.
“He was worried that this poor girl had passed away and he was trying to do something with her.”
The court heard that Ms Bevan, who is a health care assistant, thought her son might have believed Lola was asleep because he was “gross”.
She urged him to wake James and call an ambulance, before making a 999 call herself.
James, from Neyland, denies causing or allowing the death of a child. Bevan, from Aberystwyth, denies the murder.
The trial, due to the last four weeks, continues.
