Mum denies beating toddler to death at Thornton Heath home

Kyrell Matthews was found in cardiac arrest at his home in Thornton Heath last year
Met Police
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The mother of a two-year-old boy who was beaten to death at his south London home has today denied his murder.

Phylesia Shirley, 23, is accused alongside former partner Kemar Brown, 27, of killing toddler Kyrell Matthews in October 2019.

Kyrell was found in cardiac arrest at home in Thornton Heath, south London, on October 20 last year, with a post mortem finding he had suffered “blunt force trauma” and 39 rib fractures.

At the Old Bailey this morning, they both pleaded not guilty to murdering Kyrell, and also denied causing or allowing the death of a child.

On the second charge, it is said Kyrell died “as a result of an unlawful act by a member of the household”, and Shirley and Brown either killed him themselves or “ought to have been aware of the risk and failed to take such steps as you would be reasonably expected to take”.

Judge Anthony Leonard QC set their trial for January 5 next year.

Shirley and Brown, both from separate addresses in Thornton Heath, are no longer a couple.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in