Kathryn Smith, 23, is accused of being England's version of Casey Anthony, "the most hated woman in America," after the death the British mom's toddler in May 2014. The accused allegedly failed to report her child's passing and collected child benefits for six months after her daughter's death.
"I didn't want to get into the conversation about my daughter dying," Kathryn Smith told Birmingham Crown Court.
Kathryn Smith told the court that she contacted the Department of Work and Pensions in October 2014, but "didn't want to admit [Ayeeshia] had gone."
Kathryn Smith and her 22-year-old boyfriend, Matthew Rigby, are on trial for the brutal murder of 21-month-old Ayeeshia Jane Smith.
Ayeeshia Jane Smith, nicknamed "AJ" by her family, died due to a rip in her heart that appeared to be from an impact, which prosecutors allege was caused by two possible scenarios: the child was shaken severely or stomped to death. The toddler reportedly bit through her tongue and doctors testified that the body looked like that of a "car crash victim."
Kathryn Smith testified that Rigby was the last person to see her daughter alive. She asserted that after a "perfect" visit with her child's grandparents and some potty training, she and Rigby returned home with Ayeeshia Jane Smith. Kathryn Smith said she was in the kitchen getting juice for her daughter for "a couple of moments" before Rigby joined her. She then claimed that is when she heard her daughter "gasp." "Me and Matt were in the kitchen and we looked at each other, so I knew he'd heard it," she told the court.
Kathryn Smith said that she and Rigby ran into the bedroom where they found Ayeeshia Jane Smith on her side "staring out the window and she looked all pale and her lips were blue and her mouth was bubbling." Attempts to revive the child were unsuccessful and when the paramedics arrived, they could not save her.
When confronted by a neighbor's statement that Ayeeshia Jane Smith cried "Stop mummy! Stop daddy!" around the time of her death, Kathryn Smith claimed that her daughter couldn't form sentences like that yet and that the tot referred to Rigby as "Matt-Matt."
Social services had been involved before Ayeeshia Jane Smith's death and reportedly planned to have the child removed from the home due to domestic violence concerns and an allegation that Rigby had threatened to burn down the apartment. That would have been the second time social services had removed the toddler from the home. The child had been admitted to the hospital several times during her 21 months of living, but the family denied abuse.
Follow Kimberly M. Aquilina on Twitter at @KimESTAqui.
