Alyssa Amy Te Ataahua Wilson

Alyssa Wilson was just 4 months old when she was shaken so violently that her brain stem was fatally damaged - but no one will be brought to justice for the little girl's death. The West Auckland baby had a number of other injuries, including a 9.5cm fracture to her skull. Alyssa's father, Joseph Wilson, was charged with manslaughter but two trials ended with hung juries. A third trial had to be aborted after one of Mr Wilson's relatives spoke to a juror. The Crown decided not to proceed with a fourth trial and on December 6 the charge against Mr Wilson was withdrawn. That means he cannot be charged again with Alyssa's manslaughter or murder, even if new evidence comes to light. Source: 4theKids

Joseph Wilson faced three trials for Alyssa's death. The father who failed to attend his 4-month-old daughter's inquest had spoken of a string of accidents that bruised the girl, according to evidence at his trial for her manslaughter. At an inquest last week, Coroner Dr Murray Jamieson ruled that Alyssa Amy Te Ataahua Wilson died from "violent shaking to the head" the day before her death. The coroner said that Alyssa "was in the care of her father and her uncle, Tamati Kem, on the day she received the violent shaking that caused her death". Her father, Joseph William Ricardo Wilson, a professional boxer, faced three High Court trials for Alyssa's manslaughter. Two ended with hung juries, and a third in May last year was aborted when a member of Wilson's family spoke to the jury foreman. He will not be charged again over his daughter's death. In statements presented to the court, Wilson told interviewing police officers of bruising his daughter suffered in the four months she was alive. Waitakere detectives launched a homicide investigation after Alyssa died at Starship Children's Hospital on June 28, 2004. Autopsy results showed she had several injuries - the two most significant being a 9.5cm fracture to her skull, which occurred 10 to 14 days before her death, and damage to her brain stem and cervical spine. Wilson told police that a month before his daughter died he was playing PlayStation and she "pulled forward and [fell] headfirst into the bassinet which was on the ground. As soon as I saw her falling I dropped the controller and turned to catch her". In another incident, when Alyssa was aged 2 1/2 months, Wilson claimed his then 2-year-old son "jumped into her cot and landed" on his sister, causing bruising. The girl's father also said his son had bitten his sister. Questioned at Auckland Hospital after Alyssa's death, Wilson said he "didn't think much" of his daughter's injuries "because I have seen her with worse bruises before". Documents obtained by the Herald on Sunday reveal what Wilson told police had happened during the weekend that his child died. He said he was "hooked" on a rented copy of the PlayStation game Castlevania and couldn't put the game down, even wheeling his child to another room of the Massey home when she cried. Wilson's father, Paul, spoke of how he believed his son's insistence that he had never harmed his daughter - or his 5-year-old son to the same mother - and why he has stood by him during the three court trials. Source: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/dead-girls-father-ive-seen-worse-brui...

Sources

1. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/shaken-to-death-but-no-one-held-to-bl...
2. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/four-month-olds-spinal-cord-damaged-b...
3. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/40210/Baby-shaken-to-death-b...