MURDERER: Kandyce Downer

Long-term abuse lead to the death of an 18-month-old, and her mother was charged with a minimum term of 18 years.

Taking care of a child that’s biological parents have been unable to do so themselves is an honour that too many don’t understand.

Keegan Downer was one of those children whose biological mother was deemed unfit to care for her right after she was born, spending the first ten months of her life in the foster system, being described as happy and healthy by her carer. Eventually, an extended family member was contacted.

Kandyce Downer was deemed the “safest” option for Keegan. She was a mother of four and was often described as a good mother. She had previously but unsuccessfully tried to become Keegan’s older sister’s legal guardian. Downer was given custody through a special guardianship order in January 2015; Keegan moved into the family home in the Weoley Castle area of Birmingham.

It isn’t entirely clear when the abuse began but when Keegan was removed from her nursery in June 2015 it’s believed this event was the turning point in physicality. It ended all public scrutiny of the state of Keegan’s care. It was also found that Keegan was never registered with the local GP after getting moved into Downer’s care.

The true extent of the abuse Keegan suffered wasn’t clear until after she had been murdered.

On September 5th 2015, Keegan collapsed just before 10 am in the family home. She was left alone for over two hours while Downer took another child to a wedding rehearsal.
CCTV footage showed the moment Downer returned to the home and rather than calling 999 instantly, she drove a blood-stained mattress, a babygrow and pyjamas to a nearby skip. Once she returned a second time, Downer then called for help with 18-month-old Keegan.
It was too late, baby Keegan had died, alone in the home that was meant to be her safest option.

A postmortem examination revealed that Keegan had died from a combination of her injuries. The ones mostly accounted for were old head injuries, septicaemia and blunt chest trauma.
These were just a few out of the catalogue of injuries that Keegan had suffered without treatment.
The examination found 153 scars, abrasions and bruises all over her body.
She had scar tissue on her brain that, if she were alive, would have prevented her brain from growing and would eventually have caused Keegan to begin regressing mentally.
Keegan had suffered a spiral leg fracture that would have made the slightest movement pure agony.

Kandyce was sentenced to serve at least 18 years for Keegan’s murder

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