Paris Mayo: Teenager denies killing son to hide pregnancy

A teen accused of murdering her newborn lad has denied that she killed him to forestall her household from uncovering retired that she was pregnant.

Paris Mayo, 19, was 15 erstwhile she gave commencement to Stanley astatine her erstwhile location successful Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, successful 2019.

She is accused of fracturing his skull, perchance with her foot, and stuffing pieces of fabric wool into his mouth.

Ms Mayo told Worcester Crown Court that she had checked to spot if helium was breathing and if his thorax was moving.

Warning - this nonfiction contains distressing content.

"When I looked astatine him, helium genuinely wasn't moving," she said. "His eyes weren't open, helium didn't marque a noise."

She told the tribunal that she had not believed Stanley had been alive, astatine immoderate constituent aft giving commencement to him connected 23 March 2019.

Under cross-examination by prosecution barrister Jonas Hankin KC, Ms Mayo said she did not retrieve stuffing fabric wool into the baby's rima and throat, but accepted that it indispensable person been her that enactment it there.

"I knew helium wasn't breathing astatine all, that's what I made definite of earlier I done it," she had told the constabulary during an interview.

The suspect said she had utilized the fabric wool to cleanable up humor which, she said had been coming from his mouth.

She had admitted putting 2 pieces of fabric wool into his mouth, but said she could not retrieve putting 3 much pieces into his pharynx and windpipe.

"I don't retrieve doing the three, the lone ones I retrieve were the 2 successful his mouth," she said.

"I've accepted the information that they were there, and it was me, but I don't retrieve doing it."

The tribunal has besides heard she enactment the newborn into a achromatic rubbish container and had near it extracurricular the household home.

Ms Mayo, who present lives successful Ruardean, Gloucestershire, denied that she had nary respect for her son, and said she had near him successful the container truthful that her parent would person recovered his body.

"I wanted him to beryllium found," she said.

"I cognize that, now, I could person gone astir it successful a antithetic way, I thought that was the close happening to do."