The baby boy reportedly starved to death after his drug-addicted mother left him alone for 21 hours while she was high and did not check on him during that time.
A court has heard that eight-month-old Dexter Wilton was reportedly denied food and fluids by his mother while she was under the influence of methamphetamine.
On June 21, 2019, the body of the child was discovered inside a house in Ipswich, which is located south-west of Brisbane in Australia.
Both his mother Natalie Jade Whitehead, who is 36 years old, and her partner Andrew William Campbell, who is 42 years old, have been charged with his murder and appeared in court on Friday in Brisbane Supreme Court.
The court was told that Whitehead had put her son to bed at 8.30 o’clock before she and her partner got intoxicated.
According to the allegations, she did not check on the vulnerable baby until 5.30 p.m. the next day.
According to the Brisbane Times, Whitehead is accused of first throwing her syringes away in the trash of her neighbour before calling the authorities to report the incident.
Judge Lincoln Crowley stated that “She and Mr. Campbell bathed the children, changed them into fresh nappies, then put out the bag of waste [in a neighbor’s bin] with dirty baby garments and nappies.”
“They cautioned the neighbour not to report it to the authorities, as instructed. In addition to dirty syringes, the bag contained several additional items associated with drug use.”
The state’s attorney, Matt Le Grand, told the court that the residence had been discovered in “an appalling condition of disrepair.” Whitehead was discovered by the police sobbing on a mattress while clutching Dexter.
According to what Le Grand claimed, “Whitehead must have likely understood by inference that her infant would likely die as a result of lack of care.” Whitehead was charged with six counts of failing to provide the essentials for life, in addition to one count each of murder and misconduct with a corpse.
These charges were brought against Whitehead. Additionally, she was charged with one count of unlawful weapon possession, which is a separate crime from the one that resulted in the murder of her son. Whitehead’s request to be released on bail was denied by Judge Crowley.
Whitehead and Campbell are scheduled to make an appearance in the Magistrates Court of Ipswich on July 27.
Campbell was additionally charged with one case of murder, one count of tampering with a corpse, and four counts of failing to provide the essentials for life. All of these charges were stacked against him.
The court listened to testimony from a paediatrician who stated that Dexter had been malnourished for a number of days prior to his passing away.