Two-year-old Isabella was found dead in a stroller last June with broken bones and bruises all over her body. A stroller in which his mother and her companion carried his corpse for three days.
A succession of horrors. A 24-year-old British man, Scott Jeff, was found guilty this Friday, November 22, of the murder of his partner's little girl as well as acts of “cruelty”, following an eight-week trial.
Isabella Jonas-Wheildon, aged two, was found dead on June 30, 2023 in an apartment in Ipswich, England with bruises all over her body and fractures to her wrists and pelvis caused by kicking or trampling.
Isabella's mother, Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, was found guilty of “the offense of homicide” according to a Suffolk police statement for having “caused or permitted the death of a child” and “crimes of cruelty”. The sentence will be pronounced at a hearing set for December 13. In the meantime, the couple was remanded in custody.
A month of ordeal
Isabella's ordeal began in May 2023 when her mother, aged 24, got into a relationship with Scott Jeff, with whom she had already had a previous relationship in 2019. At the beginning of June 2023, the couple left their home in Bedfordshire, under the pretext of fleeing the ex-partner of Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell and father of Isabella presented as being violent. Statements which later turned out to be false.
They traveled by train to Great Yarmouth, around 90 kilometers from their home, and stayed in different accommodations. Having no more means, they even camped for a few days in a tent on a beach before finding temporary accommodation in Ipswich, the scene of the tragedy.
The autopsy carried out confirmed that all of the little girl's injuries occurred after the start of the affair between Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell and Scott Jeff. His first significant wrist injury dates back to Monday June 12.
Isabelle's mother testified during the trial that Scott Jeff's anger escalated due to “accidents during potty training.”
According to Suffolk police, witnesses said the little girl frequently wore a winter coat, despite the heat, and large sunglasses, presumably to hide her injuries. Injuries which proved fatal on Monday June 26.
His body carried around in a stroller for three days
Isabella is believed to have died from a bone marrow embolism and skeletal trauma.
“Bone marrow from his pelvic injuries entered his bloodstream and lungs, causing the embolism,” it is detailed in the press release.
Traces of cocaine and cannabis were also discovered in Isabella's body.
Professor Anthony Freemont, a bone pathologist, said according to the BBC that he had never seen this degree of pelvic injury in a child in his 40-year career. His injuries being those generally observed during “high-speed traffic accidents” or after “horse hoof hits”.
According to the couple, on the evening of her death Isabella began to have difficulty breathing. They then attempted to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him. Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell said she realized her daughter was dead at 11:37 p.m. Thirty minutes later, CCTV footage shows the couple went out shopping, laughing, as if nothing had happened.
“Over the next three days, they continued to live 'normally', pushing Isabella's body in a stroller,” the police statement details, whether in the pub, on the bus or in the shops.
Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell ended up telling a friend about her daughter's death. It was this same friend who notified the police. The couple then fled, leaving the body of the girl in the stroller locked in the bathroom. Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell and Scott Jeff were finally arrested on July 1.
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