P*rn Addicted Mom & Boyfriend Slam Son’s Head Into Pieces

P*rn Addicted Mom & Boyfriend Slam Son’s Head Into Pieces

A cocaine-using woman who took the life of her 19-month-old daughter by scalding her and leaving the toddler screaming in agony for an hour has been jailed for life. Katie Crowder took the life of her daughter by pouring hot water over her at their home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, North England.

In today’s video, I have two stories of children whose lives were tragically lost at the hands of their parents, and I’m going to start with the murder of Keegan O’Brien.

On the 6th of January 2018, Keegan O’Brien celebrated his second birthday. Two days later, he went into cardiorespiratory arrest having suffered a catastrophic head injury. Despite the best efforts of first responders and medical teams at Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Keegan suffered irreversible brain damage and could not survive his injuries. He died at 3:04 p.m. on the 9th of January 2020. Keegan was a beautiful little boy. Witnesses spoke of him as a happy and affectionate child, and his grandmother described him as a cuddly little baby who enjoyed cuddles and hugs.

Sarah O’Brien was Keegan’s mother. She was bringing up two young children alone. Keegan’s father, who isn’t part of this story, did confirm that Keegan was an unplanned pregnancy. Sarah determined, however, to keep the baby, and when she gave birth on the 6th of January 2018, she said it was one of the happiest days of her life. In the summer of 2018, when Keegan was about 6 months old, they moved to Doncaster in the north of England. Sarah was struggling financially, and as a single mother with three children under 10, life was challenging. She, however, was happy with her new accommodation and had support from her mother and contact with her sister and friends who had also had young children. The children were generally healthy, and she had no involvement with Social Services. There was no apparent reason for concern.

But then in June of 2019, Martin Curry came into Sarah O’Brien’s life. He had three children himself with his former wife, and his daughter was in the same class at school as Sarah’s eldest daughter. At the time, he was living at his parents’ house, sleeping on their sofa. Martin was a former heroin addict with previous convictions for offenses of violence, public disorder, and drug trafficking, and within weeks he was declaring his undying love for Sarah O’Brien. By the end of the school holidays, he had moved into her home.

At the start, it seemed the relationship was positive. He supported Sarah with the household chores, helping to bring a degree of stability into the home. Not long after moving in, however, he began to treat the three children with contempt. Sarah allowed him to shout and swear at the children, and adopting the cruel and dehumanizing names he used, in particular when referring to Keegan. At times she protested to Martin about his conduct, but it is plain that it continued and that she decided to put her relationship before the interest of her children. The treatment toward Keegan was extended to shutting him in his room, adjusting the door handle so he could not get out, and leaving him to cry.

Keegan was also subjected to physical punishment, as evidenced by various messages sent between the couple and by unexplained bruises seen on Keegan by others. As the forensic and postmortem evidence made clear, this also involved extreme acts of violent abuse. In the Autumn of 2019, Keegan suffered fractures to at least three vertebrae, fractures to the ribs on both sides, a subdural bleed to his head and spine, and injury to his eyes.

The fractures to Keegan’s spine were unusual, caused by a severe force, most likely a forceful fall onto a hard surface or shaking with such force that the body moved in on itself. The perpetrator and any witness to the assault would have been aware that Keegan had suffered a significant injury, but Martin confirmed that each time he moved Keegan, he would cry. His spine was in pain; he knew Keegan was showing signs of distress. Similarly, given the pliable nature of the rib cage of an infant of Keegan’s age, the fractures to his ribs would also have required a very significant force, at least that used in CPR. Again, the perpetrator and any witness would have known that Keegan was injured, and his ongoing distress in the days following the assault would have been apparent to those in close contact with him.

As for the earlier injuries to Keegan’s brain, spine, and eyes, these suggested he had been shaken forcibly. In early December 2019, Keegan was seen with fading bruises on either side of his face. Similar bruises were also seen on Keegan’s face on the 8th of January 2020, apparently sustained during the fatal assault on Keegan that morning. Such bruising paints a picture of how Keegan was handled on at least two occasions. Further examination of the residence also revealed spots of Keegan’s blood on the wall behind his high chair, and on the evidence from Dr. Ki, the forensic examiner, these were caused by an impact to Keegan’s face while he was already bleeding from his nose or mouth. It seemed most likely that this occurred sometime before the 8th of January 2020. Sarah and Martin denied knowing anything of these earlier injuries.

The past assaults on Keegan set the scene for the fatal injuries he sustained on the morning of January the 8th. Keegan suffered fractures to the bones in his left forearm at the growth plate where the arm joins the wrist, caused by a pulling, twisting apart of the cartilage from the bone—something that would have caused him great pain and distress. Keegan also suffered a bleed to the brain, injury to the nerve roots of his spine, and extensive bleeding within the retina and optic nerves of both eyes. These injuries suggest Keegan was forcibly shaken with some twisting of his body.

During the investigation, the police discovered that Sarah had left the house to take her daughters to school. Keegan must have woken and disturbed Martin as he was laying in bed looking at porn on his phone. This apparently triggered a fit of temper at being interrupted by the 2-year-old, and the most likely scenario is that he violently yanked him by his arm, causing the fractures to his wrist. He shook him and threw him down, with his head making contact against a hard surface. It may be that Keegan had needed his diaper changed, and Martin interacted with him while he was bleeding from his nose and mouth, picking him up before putting him back on his bed, leaving him to bleed onto his pillow while Martin returned to browsing gambling and porn sites on his phone. Dirty bastard.

It is chilling to think that the gaps in his internet use provide the best evidence as to the time Keegan was assaulted. Although he must have been aware he had left Keegan seriously injured and in severe distress, he continued to ignore him until shortly before 9:00 a.m. when, on his own account, he discovered Keegan floppy and cold. He wasn’t breathing. His internet history then revealed the desperate searches for “unconscious” and “unconscious and gurgling,” although at no stage did he take the most obvious step of calling the emergency services. Whether or not he ever really attempted to resuscitate Keegan, it is apparent that from the first, his concern was to protect himself. Otherwise, he would have called for help rather than leaving Keegan in his room for nearly 2 hours. In a particularly pathetic sign of self-absorption, he tried to make contact with his drug dealer over an hour before he called Sarah to call 999.

Then Sarah came home shortly after 9:00 a.m. It may be that Martin initially lied to her, reassuring her that Keegan was still asleep, but she did not go upstairs to check on Keegan at any time before she called the emergency services at 11:00 a.m. that morning. In the trial, the judge claimed given the injuries she would have been aware Keegan had previously suffered, and she knew she had left her son at significant risk of serious physical harm when she left him with Martin that morning, and when she was alerted about Keegan’s lifeless body, she must have known that he had been seriously assaulted by Martin. When contact was made with the emergency services, Sarah and Martin engaged in a cruel charade, reporting to try to carry out CPR on the child.

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They lied to the emergency services operator about what had happened and when Martin had first become aware of Keegan’s collapse. They similarly lied to the first responders who attended and desperately tried to revive Keegan, and they lied when Keegan was admitted to hospital as they watched the medical staff rushing to do what they could do for this helpless child. Their lies continued both to the police in their interviews and to members of the family who offered support.

Now, regarding the sentencing, the judge said: “Martin, for the murder of Keegan O’Brien, I sentence you to life in prison. Having regard to all the factors I have set out, the minimum term will be 22 years.” Regarding Sarah, the judge said: “As for mitigating factors, you are 33 and of previous good character, and I take that into account in your favor. I also accept that you were a woman with low self-esteem, vulnerable to the attentions of someone like Martin, but it was not your case that he controlled you or that you were in fear of him as your counsel has said. Then there is also some evidence of remorse on your part, and I accept that no sentence that I pass will be greater than you have already imposed on yourself. You have lost your son forever and have been separated from your daughters. Your culpability does not detract you from that tragedy. Sarah O’Brien, for allowing the death of Keegan, the minimum sentence that I can impose that reflects the gravity of this offense, taking into account all the factors I have said, is one of 8 years in prison. The practical effect of my sentence is that you will spend half that term in custody before being licensed. The 306 days you have already spent in custody on remand will be deducted from your sentence. There will be no separate penalty on the separate account of child cruelty.”

Right, regarding the judge, I’m no legal professional, but play me a [ __ ] violin. Oh no, you lost your children, now you are a good person, you had low self-esteem. When a child is in agony and you do nothing, you are as culpable as the very person who placed the injuries on the child in the first place. You want to know why? Because we’re talking about a child. A 2-year-old. His brain hasn’t fully developed, his intellect hasn’t fully developed. Children at the age of two don’t even know how to communicate pain, hence why they just cry all the time. My son, who’s three, he doesn’t even know when he’s hungry. He just starts acting out, right? He starts going crazy, running around, making weird noises, then I’m like, “Oh, he’s hungry,” because I know his cues. Children do not know how to communicate. You were the adult. 8 years? I’ve slept longer than 8 years.

Now, the second story of Gracie Crowder. After pouring the water, Katie spent the next hour clearing up before taking the youngster to her parents’ house on the same street. At the 26-year-old’s trial, prosecutors said it was not an instant death, adding it would have taken in the region of 1 hour for her to die. Jailing Crowder for life with a minimum term of 21 years at the Nottingham Crown Court, Mr. Justice Jeremy Baker said the crime was as disturbing as it is tragic, adding that the little girl would have been in intense pain. Katie Crowder poured a significant quantity of hot water over Gracie’s face and body while she was sat in a pool of equally hot water, causing deep burns to at least 65% of the surface of her skin.

“It is clear from the medical evidence that this would have caused Gracie intense pain that would have led her to cry out vigorously, become distressed, and seek to physically escape from the source of the heat. Furthermore, her death would not have occurred swiftly. Gracie would have continued to suffer pain and distress for a significant period of time.” The resulting loss of fluid from the toddler’s blood vessels caused by the injuries eventually led to organ failure and death. Instead of seeking prompt medical attention for Gracie, which may well have saved her life, Katie did not seek assistance from her parents, who lived a few doors away, until after Gracie had died. Thereafter, all attempts to save her life both by the paramedics at the scene and doctors at the hospital were rendered futile. The judge said he had taken account of psychiatric reports concluding that Crowder was suffering depression and mental and behavioral disorders secondary to substance abuse at the time she took Gracie’s life.

Crowder had also texted her girlfriend the night before Gracie died, saying she was contemplating taking drastic action because she was fed up with her parents trying to take the young girl away from her. However, the judge said, “I am not satisfied this necessarily encompassed killing Gracie.” He added that he had no doubt Katie Crowder had taken a significant amount of cocaine on the morning of the murder, but could not be sure whether it was before or after she poured the scalding water over the child. Mr. Justice Baker said her actions amounted to a gross breach of trust, but there was not enough evidence that she intended to take Gracie’s life rather than cause really serious harm.

Well, Mr. Justice Baker, I object to that, you muppet. Taking someone’s life can happen in an instant, but when you pour boiling hot water on someone, that’s a slow, slow potential death. And the fact that the child did die, you could argue that the child felt more pain with the prolonged period rather than just a quick death, does that make sense? The Justice said her drug habit may well have been a coping mechanism after trauma suffered in childhood; this may also have led to her feelings of anger she had continued to experience, and which from time to time had manifested.

Gracie was pronounced dead shortly after her arrival at the hospital on March the 6th after suffering deep burns. Katie’s trial heard that on arrival at her parents’ house, Katie sounded panicked as she knocked on the door, telling Paul and Karen Crowder, the parents, “She’s dead, she’s dead.” Mrs. Crowder asked her daughter, “What the hell have you done?” to which she responded, “I don’t know, I found her like this.” Look at that question: “What the hell have you done?” If I went to my parents’ house and I said, “My son is dead, my son is dead,” their initial reaction: “Oh my God, what happened?” No, her parents said, “What the hell have you done?” What kind of relationship did they have? What kind of persona did Katie have that the parents assumed she did this? You know what I mean?

Katie had made comments about her child in the past, saying, “I need to get her to the nursery, I never get a break at all.” She was arrested at King’s Mill Hospital in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, and when she was cautioned, she said, “What? I would never hurt her.” Crowder had denied murder, but a jury dismissed claims that she had been cleaning up a mess from the puppy before finding Gracie face down in the bathroom beside a mop bucket. The Nottingham Coroner’s Court heard she told a therapist she had thoughts of wanting to take someone’s life months prior to Gracie’s death. Coroner Gordon Clow said this information was not shared with any agencies and may have helped Gracie. Mr. Clow recorded a verdict of unlawful killing and said Gracie’s death was part of a deliberate act by her mother. He said agencies were not responsible for the death, but he said opportunities to intervene were missed, and risk assessments were not done because of poor information sharing and record-keeping.

During his conclusion, Mr. Clow said Katie was snorting up to three grams of cocaine daily and kept her relapse into drug use from family and support workers. He also said she told a drug worker about feeling angry, paranoid, and psychotic, and despite telling a therapist she had daily thoughts of wanting to stab someone and that she went out at night armed with a knife, this was not passed on to social care or safeguarding teams. The coroner said Katie would play down these graphic thoughts or give watered-down versions to her support worker, but still, further assessments on her mental health and Gracie’s safety were not carried out. Gracie herself suffered extensive burns to 65% of her body after hot water was poured over her, and a post-mortem report concluded her death was scalding. Mr. Clow said Crowder had kept information from agencies for fear of losing her daughter and had said she would not hurt Gracie. He said in his findings that Gracie’s death had been the subject of internal reviews at all the agencies involved.

Katie Crowder, who was 26 at the time, was jailed for 21 years at Nottingham Crown Court in December 2020. And the only conclusion you can have on this case—before I get to the second one, it’s just a [ __ ], but how disgusting, how heartbreaking is that? Hot water. You know what, look at that process. Let’s assume she used, like, a pan on the stove. She got up, she put water in the pan. That moment, she could have walked away. She then started boiling the water, 10, 15 minutes. Again, she could have walked away. Then the water was boiled. Again, she could have walked away. Then she was picking it up, taking it to her daughter. She could have walked away. She had ample opportunity to stop her actions. This was deliberate. This was on purpose. Disgusting, disgraceful. For Gracie, there’s no monopoly on pain in these two cases, but Katie, my God, you essentially boiled your daughter alive. That’s not the right term, but it’s the next closest thing. Wow, I actually have no words for that. These three individuals, may you spend the rest of your lives in jail. Thank you for watching.