Kyrell Matthews: Mother and violent ex-boyfriend jailed for killing ‘defenceless’ two-year-old

‘Harrowing’ secret audio recordings captured horrific abuse in weeks before toddler’s death in south London

A mother and her violent ex-boyfriend have been jailed after they were found guilty of killing her two-year-old son following horrific abuse captured on secret mobile phone recordings.

“Defenceless” Kyrell Matthews was found to have 41 rib fractures and internal bleeding from a fatal 1.6-inch cut to his liver after he collapsed and died at his home in Thornton Heath, south London, on 20 October 2019.

He had suffered weeks of cruelty at the hands of Kemar Brown, 28, and mother Phylesia Shirley, 24, in the lead up to his death, the Old Bailey heard.

Brown, 28, was convicted of murder after a trial earlier this month, while Shirley, 24, was acquitted of murder but found guilty of the alternative charge of manslaughter.

They appeared alongside each other in the dock on Friday as Brown was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years while Shirley was jailed for 13 years.

Prosecutors told the trial Kyrell was repeatedly struck by the then-couple over several weeks, with “harrowing” secret audio recordings capturing the violence said to have been meted out by the pair in Shirley’s one-bedroom flat.

The toddler, who was non-verbal, could be heard crying and screaming on distressing audio files taken from Shirley’s phone and played to jurors during the trial.

Multiple recordings taken over the final weeks of his life picked up the sound of Kyrell being hit repeatedly, with Brown saying: “Shut up”, and: “You have to ruin the fun.”

Photo shown in court at the Old Bailey of two-year-old Kyrell Matthews (Metropolitan Police)

Another recording caught Shirley striking her son and causing him to break down in distress.

The audio had been secretly recorded by Shirley because she suspected her partner of being unfaithful, the court was told.

Prosecutor Edward Brown QC told jurors the mother put her relationship with Brown above her own child.

The couple, who were unemployed at the time of Kyrell’s murder, were both cannabis users and are understood to have been visited by social services at least once.

“(Shirley) was prepared to reject what should have been motherly care in protecting Kyrell in favour of abuse by her - his own mother - and in favour of the abuse carried out by a man she knew was abusing her child,” Mr Brown told jurors.

Police released video footage of two-year-old Kyrell Matthews smiling and laughing just weeks before his death in October 2019 (Metropolitan Police/PA)

“The truth is that his death came when once more he was abused in that flat, once more in a very similar way, causing very similar injuries, except on this occasion it was so much more serious, the abuse and the results were catastrophic.”

In a 111 call made after Kyrell collapsed at home on 20 October 2019, Shirley sobbed as she was told by a clinical adviser to use both hands and “push down fast” and “go for it”.

Both defendants, from separate addresses in Thornton Heath, declined to give evidence during trial, but the court heard Brown’s defence was that the injuries inflicted were the result of incorrect advice from the operator on how to resuscitate Kyrell.

Phylesia Shirley, 24, and her ex-boyfriend Kemar Brown, 28, have been jailed for the killing of her two-year-old son Kyrell Matthews at her flat in Thornton Heath, south London, in October 2019 (Metropolitan Police)

Paying tribute to Kyrell outside court after the couple were convicted, his paternal step-grandmother Christine Ernest said he was “the most loving little boy, always smiling”.

Jurors were not told that police had been called to an earlier domestic incident but no offences were identified and Kyrell was said to have appeared “safe and well”.

A passer-by had alerted officers on 17 July 2019 after hearing shouting and screaming coming from their flat, with a female voice saying: “Stop hitting my face.”

It followed an attack in May 2019 when Kyrell suffered a significant injury to the side of his face and spent five days in Croydon University Hospital.

The hospital carried out an investigation and found Shirley’s explanation that the little boy had fallen off a sofa and hit his head on a highchair was “plausible”, police said.

Additional reporting by Press Association