Queensland man guilty of torturing and killing three-year-old stepdaughter Kaydence Mills
A man has been found guilty of torturing and killing his three-year-old stepdaughter while the girl’s mother has been cleared of the same charges.
Kaydence Mills’s mother, Sinitta Tammy Dawita, and her fiance, Tane Saul Desatge, were charged with murder and torture after the little girl’s body was found at the Chinchilla Weir, about 300km west of Brisbane, in March 2020.
The pair had pleaded not guilty but on Tuesday, at the Toowoomba supreme court, Justice Sean Cooper ruled Desatge had tortured and murdered Kaydence in 2017.
He found Dawita not guilty of murder and torture.
Kaydence had been subject to escalating violence before her death, with her stepfather more frequently hitting the three-year-old with a bamboo stick.
Family members told Justice Cooper during the judge-alone trial that more and more noticeable bruises, often in a straight line, appeared on the little girl and she was repeatedly forced to eat her own faeces.
Kaydence was last seen alive lying on a red couch with her eyes closed and not moving at the family’s home with bruises on her head and face.
Desatge had argued he had come home and found Kaydence had fallen down the stairs, causing her injuries, and Dawita refused to let him call an ambulance or take her to the hospital.
But Justice Cooper did not accept this.
Instead, he found Desatge had tortured and hit Kaydence on the face and head with a bamboo stick, intending to inflict severe pain or suffering resulting in her death.
Justice Cooper found Desatge did not like Kaydence because of her biological father and his true feelings were made clear during a police intercepted phone call with Dawita where he called the little girl a “dying little cunt”.
“I find that Mr Desatge felt a significant degree of animosity towards [Kaydence’s father] and this animosity influenced his feelings towards Kaydence and his treatment of her,” Justice Cooper said.
Desatge and Dawita concealed Kaydence’s death by wrapping her body in garbage bags and initially placing her in the outhouse at their home’s back yard before moving her body to Chinchilla Weir, where she was buried.
The pair then disposed of Kaydence’s possessions and the bamboo stick, and lied to family members about the little girl’s whereabouts, saying she had gone to live with an aunt.
Desatge and Dawita had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of interfering with a dead body.
Dawita was sentenced to 18 months in prison and with time already served she will be eligible for parole on 23 September.
Desatge will be sentenced on Thursday.
• In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International