A three-month-old baby was shaken to death after being caught in the middle of her parents' toxic relationship, a court has heard. Kaylani Kalanzi was known to social services and was on a child protection plan when she was admitted to hospital on July 8 last year having been violently shaken with an impact to her head, jurors were told. She suffered catastrophic brain injuries as well as a broken leg and ribs, and died in hospital 15 days later.
Kaylani's parents Herbert Kalanzi, 35, and Nazli Merthoca, 24, are accused of murder and causing or allowing her death. Opening their Old Bailey trial on Tuesday, prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC said the defendants were in a 'mutually abusive relationship' with Merthoca consuming drugs. As a result, Kaylani was vulnerable to her parents' inability to put her first and protect her from harm, jurors were told.
Kaylani had been born prematurely and spent 29 days in the special care baby unit at North Middlesex Hospital before being allowed home on May 13, 2024. Social services were involved with the family and allowed custody of Kaylani after the defendants demonstrated they were fit parents, jurors heard. However, messages on WhatsApp and Snapchat uncovered after their arrests revealed the extent of their volatile relationship, it was alleged.
On June 17, 2024, Kalanzi messaged Merthoca to complain about being locked out, saying: 'Who do you think you are?' Merthoca told him that she was going to call police and Kalanzi called her 'dumb' and responded: 'If you go police u lose everything. Moving like social aren't onto us about domestic.' Kaylani's mother accused her partner of hurting their child, saying: 'Bye Your dead to me.' She told him: 'You hurt Kaylani eye. Wtf I'm reporting this. You gave her a black eye. And blood.'
A Snapchat video taken in the early hours showed Kaylani lying on a cushion with a visible eye injury, jurors were told. Merthoca went on: 'Her head is bruised as well. You won't be sleeping when the doors taken off. She didn't deserve this.' Immediately afterwards, she allegedly searched the internet for 'what to do if baby had blood shot eye' and 'baby eye injury red spot'. Two days later, the defendants took Kaylani to see a GP with redness on her eye, which they said was caused by being accidentally hit with a rattle by an older child.
Ms Johnson told jurors: 'In itself the eye injury was minor but it is a graphic example of the defendants' inability to care properly for Kaylani and their failure to take action to protect her from harm and remove her from danger. On 8 July, 2024 the ever-present risk to Kaylani became a fatal reality.' Shortly before 10.30pm, the defendants called emergency services saying Kaylani had stopped breathing. When paramedics arrived, the couple failed to inform them that Kaylani had been shaken, causing bleeding to the brain, damage to her eyes and fractures to her tibia and ribs, the court was told. The defendants, from East Ham, east London, have denied the charges against them.
