A teenage mother has been sentenced to at least 12 years in prison after being found guilty of murdering her newborn son at her parents’ home.
Warning: The following article contains details of a graphic nature
Paris Mayo, now 19, was convicted last week over the death of her baby Stanley in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, in 2019. She was 15 years old at the time.
She cried in the dock after jurors at Worcester Crown Court returned their verdict on Friday after more than eight hours of deliberations.
The court had heard Mayo gave birth to Stanley alone in a living room at her parents’ home, while they were upstairs unaware.
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After delivering her baby, weighing 7lb 12oz, the prosecution said the teenager assaulted Stanley.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the infant suffered a fractured skull, possibly caused by Mayo’s foot on his head, before she stuffed cotton wool into his mouth – two pieces of which were found deep in his throat.
She then dumped his body in a binbag and left it on the front doorstep before going to bed.
Her mother found the lifeless infant the following morning after looking inside the blood-stained bag and alerted the police.
Mayo is said to have tried to cover up both her pregnancy and the birth – claiming she was unaware she was expecting.
Stanley was born full-term and is said to have lived for at least two hours.
Mayo had earlier denied causing Stanley’s complex skull fractures, claiming her son had the umbilical cord round his neck, hit his head on the floor during labour, and was already dead when he was born.
When Mayo and Stanley were taken to Hereford County Hospital, the teenager was asked why she had not told her mother what had happened.
“She’s got a lot going on with dad,” she is said to have replied.
During her trial, the jury heard Mayo’s father, Patrick Mayo, was having home dialysis in an upstairs room assisted by Mayo’s mother on the night of the birth, and died 10 days after the events unfolded.
