A new mom in the United Kingdom allegedly took time to pamper herself and buy a lottery ticket before taking her gravely injured 7-week-old daughter to the hospital — causing complications that led to the tot’s death at age 2.
Sarah Ngaba, 32, admitted to causing “life-shortening and life-limiting” injuries to her daughter, Eliza, and claimed she was guilty of infanticide rather than outright murder, the BBC reported.
Eliza died of a respiratory infection at age 2 after a complex skull fracture she suffered after being shaken as an infant, which left her disabled and vulnerable to even simple diseases.
Sarah Ngaba, 32, was charged with her daughter’s murder. West Mercia Police At Ngaba’s ongoing criminal trial, prosecutor Jonas Hankin walked the court through Ngaba’s alleged neglect — and abuse — in the hours leading up to Eliza’s hospitalization just seven weeks after she was born.
After abusing her new baby, Ngaba hopped onto a video call early in the morning on November 13, 2019, where a witness observed that Eliza’s “body was shaking.”
The witness advised Ngaba to take the ailing baby to a hospital, but the new mom dragged her feet, insisting that she needed to take a bath and would call a taxi rather than an ambulance, Hankin recounted.
When Ngaba rang for a taxi at 8:13 a.m., the company told her no one would be available until 8:50 a.m., which she ultimately “settled” for with little fuss, Hankin said.
Ngaba also popped into a nearby supermarket and purchased a lottery ticket at 8:59 a.m. She and Eliza entered the taxi at 9:05 a.m., the prosecutor said.
Hankin alleged that mom “did not even rush” when she arrived at the hospital, even though attending nurses noted that her baby was “in a state of collapse,” The Telegraph reported.
The complex skull fracture Eliza sustained left her “pale, unresponsive, gasping and having seizures,” Hankin said.
Beyond her shocking injuries, Ngaba allegedly told a nurse that her daughter had not been fed since 5 a.m. and gave the relaxed impression “that Eliza was simply unwell.” She also made no note of the apparent physical trauma the infant sustained.
Medical staff later concluded that Eliza’s injuries were caused by forceful shaking, “together with a very significant impact” to the head.
Ngaba’s defense has tried to assert that she was in a state of postpartum mental disturbance tied to her recent childbirth, which the prosecution shot down.
“The prosecution says that when the evidence is looked at carefully, the true picture is not one of a childbirth-related disturbance of mind – it is one of anger, frustration, resentment and a loss of self-control,” Hankin told the jury.
Ngaba was initially sentenced to 14 years in prison for Eliza’s assault in November 2020. She was charged with Eliza’s murder in February 2025.
