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The Court of Appeal today reserved its judgment when a man appealed his conviction for murdering his baby daughter by drowning her in the bath.
Kevin Joseph Charles Little, 27, of Kaitangata, South Otago, was convicted in February this year of murdering his seven-month-old daughter, Alyssa at Nelson in 2006.
He was given a life sentence with a non-parole period of 17 years.
At the time of sentencing in the High Court in Nelson Justice Warwick Gendall told Little his defence that he had been holding Alyssa on his hip while getting out of the bath and had slipped, knocking himself unconscious and presumably dropping Alyssa back into the bath, had been rejected by the jury as being incapable of belief.
Evidence was heard that the baby had been fully immersed for at least three and possibly five minutes, during which time Little had made no attempt to pick her up or to start resuscitation procedures.
Mother Chontelle Murphy said after the sentencing that she missed Alyssa every day but she had to learn to live with her death.
"A bad person is off the streets and we can rebuild our lives. It's an example to other people, no matter how angry you get, they are just innocent children," she said.
- NZPA
