Tuesday, December 16, 2025 -A young mother has been jailed for nine years for shaking her three-month-old daughter to de@th in the UK.
According to Sky News, Nazli Merthoca, 24, gave birth to
Kaylani Kalanzi prematurely, and the newborn had to spend 29 days
in hospital before she was allowed home on 13 May 2024.
Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC told jurors that Merthoca was in a
"mutually abusive relationship" with the child's father, Herbert
Kalanzi.
The infant was on social services' radar before she was even
born, and had been placed on a child protection plan, the Old Bailey
was told. Before they could take custody of the child, the parents had to
demonstrate they were fit parents, with Mr Kalanzi agreeing to attend a
fatherhood programme.
But Ms Johnson said social services' strategy was
"doomed to fail" and the "ever-present risk" to Kaylani
became a "fatal reality" on 8 July 2024.
The couple called emergency services shortly before 10.30pm,
saying Kaylani had stopped breathing, and requesting help at Merthoca's
grandmother's flat in Homerton, east London, where they were staying at the
time.
When paramedics arrived, Merthoca failed to inform them that
Kaylani had been violently shaken, causing bleeding to the brain, damage to her
eyes, and fractures to her tibia and ribs, the court was told.
Admitted with catastrophic brain injuries, as well as a
broken leg and ribs, Kaylani d!ed in the hospital 15 days later.
Merthoca became upset at being questioned about what
happened, and claimed she was being blamed because of her "race and
gender", according to staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Ms Johnson said Merthoca had "lost her temper with the
baby after an accumulation of factors" and also "challenged"
social workers instead of accepting their help.
Benjamin Aina KC, defending, told the court that his client
had faced "a number of significant challenges" in her life.
These included suffering physical abuse as a child and
entering the care system when she was 12, where she started being "groomed
by older men" and relying on cannabis and alcohol.
He also told of her "grief" over Kaylani.
Merthoca was tried over her daughter's de@th in
October, and a jury cleared her of murder but found her guilty of manslaughter.
Jailing her for nine years and six months on Monday, Judge
Mark Lucraft KC called the de@th of the baby a "loss of a precious
life".
"The impact of the death of Kaylani will be felt by
many," he told Merthoca.
"You will have to live with the knowledge that you
killed your daughter."
Mr Kalanzi had also been on trial, accused of causing or
allowing Kaylani's death, but was cleared by jurors.
He had been formally acquitted of her murder on the
directions of the judge.
The defendants, from East Ham, east London, did not give
evidence at their trial.
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