Ethan Davis: Father blames social services as mom leaves baby to die in heated room to go shopping
MELKSHAM, WILTSHIRE: A grief-stricken father has slammed social services for not checking on his son’s mother, who left their one-year-old baby at home to die in 27C temperatures while she went outside for shopping and a car wash. Stacey Davis left Ethan Davis, 1, alone for nearly three hours in a heated room in her home in June 2018.
The 35-year-old mother was jailed for two years for an offense of child cruelty at Salisbury Crown Court on Thursday, December 1. Stacey had admitted the offense at a previous hearing in May 2022, according to the Independent. During the trial it was revealed that Davis, who regularly smoked cannabis around her son, left the infant while she ran errands and visited a park near her home in Melksham, Wiltshire. She returned home around 3 hours later and even then failed to check on him for at least another 30 minutes.
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She, eventually, visited her son’s room where she found him in an unconscious state. He was rushed to the hospital on June 27, 2018, and was pronounced dead shortly afterward. The prosecutor reportedly told the court that a post-mortem examination found a 15 cm skull fracture on Ethan’s deceased body. Forensic investigators also detected that there were high levels of cannabis in Ethan’s hair. However, the cause of the toddler’s death remained uncertain.
Defense barrister Mark Ashley claimed Davis was scared to take her son to the hospital after he was previously removed from her care due to a suspected broken leg. Ethan was born prematurely via C-section and required colon surgery immediately, resulting in a two-month stay in the hospital, the prosecution revealed.
Now, Ethan’s heartbroken father Luke Turvey has finally broken his silence and has revealed his heartache. "I think they failed Ethan and our family because of how we were treated and how it was assumed it was me because I'm the man,” Luke told the Sun. "Social services should have investigated all allegations that were made against her, rather than ignoring them. Everyone who dealt with this has said sorry - the police for example - but still no apology from social services, because they know they really messed up."
The court reports also emphasized allegations made by Luke's family. Slamming the mother for not taking care of her son, the family said she had not "bonded" with little Ethan and "hates" him. They also alleged she previously ''wished he had died instead of the family dog", which Davis denied. Ethan's aunt Lexi said, "Ethan was in his cot and nobody was coming for him - nobody deserves to die alone. You should always have somebody there - your mum, your dad, someone. I know the judge was thorough and fair given the guidelines he had to follow. The defense was pushing for a suspended sentence, I'm just glad she's in custody. She won't have an easy time in there. What's hardest for us is that she has refused to tell us where Ethan's ashes are."