A mother has been sentenced to nine-and-a-half years for the manslaughter of her three-month-old daughter in east London.
Nazli Merthoca gave birth prematurely to Kaylani Kalanzi, who spent 29 days in hospital before returning home on 13 May 2024. The infant had been on social services’ radar even before birth and was placed on a child protection plan.
Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC told the Old Bailey that Merthoca was in a “mutually abusive relationship” with the child’s father, Herbert Kalanzi. Social services required the parents to demonstrate they were fit to care for Kaylani, with Mr. Kalanzi attending a fatherhood programme. However, the court heard that the strategy to protect the baby was “doomed to fail.”
On 8 July 2024, Merthoca and Kalanzi called emergency services after Kaylani stopped breathing at Merthoca’s grandmother’s flat in Homerton. Paramedics were not told that Kaylani had been violently shaken, resulting in catastrophic brain injuries, eye damage, and fractures to her tibia and ribs. The infant died in hospital 15 days later.
Merthoca reportedly claimed she was being unfairly blamed due to her “race and gender” and was described as having “lost her temper with the baby after an accumulation of factors” and resisted help from social workers.
Her defence highlighted Merthoca’s difficult past, including physical abuse in childhood, time in the care system, grooming by older men, and struggles with cannabis and alcohol.
Following a trial in October, a jury cleared Merthoca of murder but found her guilty of manslaughter.
On Monday, Judge Mark Lucraft KC sentenced her to nine years and six months in prison, describing Kaylani’s death as a “loss of a precious life” and telling Merthoca:
“You will have to live with the knowledge that you killed your daughter.”
