Man admits murdering his partner’s two-year-old son
Aman has admitted murdering a two-year-old boy who suffered a sickening catalogue of injuries, including a fractured skull and a bite mark on his chest.
Chevaze Sanchez McGregor pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court to killing his partner’s son, Jeremiah Regis-Ngawah, who died of peritonitis after a traumatic blow to his stomach.
The court heard McGregor, 30, used physical chastisement to “toughen children up” and had struck Jeremiah with his fists, a belt and a rod to discipline him.
In a statement issued after McGregor’s guilty plea, West Midlands Police said Jeremiah died in hospital after collapsing at his home in High Street, Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, on November 20 last year.
The toddler’s mother, 26-year-old Sindyann Laverne Regis, pleaded guilty to allowing the death of her son at an earlier hearing.
Regis – who renewed a relationship with McGregor in 2016 after moving to Wolverhampton from London – knocked on neighbours’ doors at the flats where she lived, claiming her son was unwell and had been sick.
An ambulance was called and McGregor went to hospital with Jeremiah, claiming to be his stepdad, with Regis following later.
Police said McGregor was arrested after doctors who examined the toddler became suspicious of his injuries and other marks covering his body.
Jeremiah was also found to have suffered fractured ribs and injuries to his arms and legs.
Commenting on the police inquiry, Detective Inspector Warren Hines said: “The death of one so young is always tragic, but it’s horrifying to think of the amount of violence and suffering this child must have endured in the hands of someone he should have been able to trust.
“McGregor was a controlling, manipulative and violent individual.
“He believed in chastising children physically and used a belt, a rod and his fists to cause the terrible injuries to Jeremiah.
“We believe the fatal assault was inflicted a couple of days before and Jeremiah was left in agony until he succumbed to peritonitis.
“Evidence shows that Jeremiah had defensive wounds to his hands and arms, which shows he tried to shield himself from the beatings.”
DI Hines added: “Evidence shows McGregor was prone to bouts of extreme loss of temper.
“Sindyann must have known what was happening – we have been told Jeremiah whimpered when McGregor was around, and yet she allowed him sole charge and discipline of the toddler.
“Parents are duty bound to care for children and to nurture them into adulthood. The home should be a sanctuary, not a place where they are brutalised and beaten.”
Both defendants will be sentenced at a later date.