Mother Jailed for Killing Four-Month-Old Baby in Gloucestershire
She was guilty of manslaughter after violently shaking baby daughter, causing fatal brain injuries.
A mother has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing her four-month-old daughter by violently shaking her at their home in Newent, Gloucestershire.
Melissa Wilband, 28, was convicted of manslaughter following the death of baby Lexi Wilband in April 2020. A jury at Bristol Crown Court heard how Lexi died from a brain injury caused by being violently shaken—both shortly before her collapse and on at least one earlier occasion.
Lexi passed away at Bristol Children's Hospital on April 18, 2020, six days after being rushed to hospital unconscious. A nurse held her hand as she died.
Wilband’s former partner, Jack Wheeler, 31, was acquitted of any involvement. Manslaughter charges against him were dropped during the trial after prosecutors offered no evidence.
Sentencing Wilband, Mr Justice Saini said: “Lexi was about four months old when she died. She was a healthy baby. It is important that we recognise this is about her life being taken. You killed Lexi by violently shaking her… Only you will know why you acted in the way you did.”
The judge said the shaking on Easter Sunday caused catastrophic brain bleeding and added that Lexi had also suffered a previous non-fatal shaking incident.
The court heard Wilband had misled Mr Wheeler into believing he was Lexi’s biological father, even presenting him with a fake DNA test. Despite later learning he was not Lexi’s father, Wheeler continued to help raise her.
Prosecutors described a chaotic home life and noted Wilband had taken cocaine within days of Lexi’s birth in November 2019. On April 12, 2020, she phoned NHS 111 claiming Lexi had stopped breathing while sitting in her bouncer chair.
At hospital, Wilband gave inconsistent accounts of what happened, at one point blaming Mr Wheeler for swinging the bouncer chair.
Medical experts confirmed Lexi’s injuries were consistent with non-accidental shaking. Bleeding in her eyes was described as “too numerous to count”.
Despite knowing Lexi might not survive, Wilband left her bedside at the hospital on April 17 to sleep elsewhere. Lexi died early the next morning.
Wilband denied shaking her daughter and claimed she was physically incapable due to a wrist injury. The jury rejected her account.