My partner woke me up and accused me of killing his daughter
Murder trial hears accused woman ‘went blank’ when she saw injured child Santina
A WOMAN on trial accused of the murder of a twoyear-old child told gardaí that she fell asleep in her apartment only to be woken by her then partner who accused her of killing his daughter.
Karen Harrington, 37, is on trial at the Central Criminal Court in Cork charged with the murder of Santina Cawley at an apartment at 26 Elderwood Park, Boreenmanna Road, Cork, on July 5, 2019.
She denies the charge. At the time of the alleged offence, she was in a relationship with Michael Cawley, the father of the child.
Ms Harrington was arrested in connection with the murder of Santina on July 8, 2019. Memos of several Garda interviews were read to the jury yesterday.
The court heard that, during her detention at Gurranabraher Garda Station in Cork city, Ms Harrington said she was a ‘caring’ person who had taken over the raising of her younger sisters as a teenager. She also stated that Mr Cawley was a good father and that they had been together for about six months.
Ms Harrington said she had had an argument with Mr Cawley in the early hours of July 5, 2019, at her then apartment at 26 Elderwood Park. She said she had earlier had a disagreement with him while socialising in the home of a friend in the same apartment complex.
Ms Harrington said that, while in the apartment of Martina Higgins at Elderwood Drive on the evening of July 4, Mr Cawley had accused her of kissing ‘foreigners’ in a casino in Cork.
She left the apartment in Elderwood Drive at around 1.30am. She told gardaí that when she went back to her apartment she accidentally broke a drinking glass. She said she later cut her feet on the broken glass when arguing with Mr Cawley.
She said that when he returned with Santina at around 3am they started arguing again. ‘I don’t know [about what]. I am blank on what was said. Santina was crying. She was hysterical. I had her in my arms. I was trying to calm her. She was roasting. My last memory of her is taking her clothes off. I put her in a blanket and said I would check her and then I fell asleep. She had calmed down at that stage,’ she said.
Ms Harrington said there was a knock on her door from neighbour Aoife Niamh McGaley who expressed concern about the noise from the apartment. She also remembered being somewhat ‘ignorant’ and ‘ranting and raving’ with neighbour Dylan Olney when he also mentioned the noise from the apartment.
She told gardaí her next memory was of being woken from her sleep by Mr Cawley, who had returned to the apartment. She said: ‘Michael was standing in front of me with the baby. I took her. She was lifeless. She was white. He was saying, “What did you do to my child?”
‘She had a pale face. She was looking lifeless. I can see her lips. I imagined she was alive. I panicked and I ran. My mind was leaving me. I went blank.’ She said Mr Cawley started ‘roaring’ at her and that she left and went to the home of her friend Martina Higgins. When she didn’t get an answer there she left the apartment complex and went to the nearby home of another friend.
Ms Harrington was asked if she had taken medication that day. She said she hadn’t but that she wanted to see how her blood results ‘came back’.
She said she also hadn’t consumed that much alcohol.
She said Santina was ‘hysterical’ when Mr Cawley returned with her at about 3am. She had ‘soothed’ her by picking her up, she said, adding: ‘I had her in my arms for a while. She was grand. She was roasting but okay.’
She told gardaí the argument with Mr Cawley was ‘chaos’ but that it was just a verbal dispute and there was no violence. ‘He didn’t hit me but there was a mark on my eye. But I don’t know where it came from,’ she said.
Sergeant Michelle O’Leary told the court that she arrived at the Elderwood apartments at 5.20am on July 5 after gardaí received a call about a serious situation involving a child.
She said she entered the apartment to find her colleague, Sergeant Bryan Teahan, checking the child for a pulse. A faint pulse was detected and Sergeant O’Leary moved a duvet to facilitate CPR. She said the kitchen was in ‘disarray’ and there was broken glass on the floor.
Sgt O’Leary said she spoke to Ms Harrington who confirmed she lived in No26. Sgt O’Leary said: ‘There was a smell of alcohol but I wouldn’t describe her as intoxicated. She was hungover.’
The case will resume on Monday before Judge Michael McGrath and a jury of 11. The 12th juror was excused earlier this week.
‘What did you do to my child?’