Keegan Downer murder: Legal guardian Kandyce Downer jailed for life

A woman who murdered a toddler she had subjected to "barbaric" abuse in her care has been jailed for life. Kandyce Downer, 34, killed 18-month-old Keegan Downer less than a year after she was appointed her legal guardian. The toddler had 153 scars and bruises and suffered what police described as "barbaric and evil" treatment, sustaining brain and spinal injuries. Downer, who must serve at least 18 years, told Birmingham Crown Court her eldest son had caused the injuries. Keegan died on 5 September 2015. Before calling 999, Downer dumped her blood-spotted mattress, the court heard. The short, sad life of Keegan Downer Forensic testing at the house revealed traces of the girl's blood in her cot and on the bedroom wall. A post-mortem examination revealed the toddler died from a combination of old head injuries, septicaemia and blunt chest trauma but had suffered a catalogue of injuries in her life. Live updates on this story Mrs Justice Frances Patterson told Downer: "It is a horrible tale of callous conduct and at no stage have you showed any remorse. Kandyce DownerImage copyrightWest Midlands Police Image caption Kandyce Downer had denied murder "Why you changed from a loving mother to a brutal attacker of a defenceless child is a mystery. "You did not set out with the intention to kill Keegan but the repeated assaults on her made death as an outcome of your conduct increasingly likely passage of time." She concluded: "Keegan suffered considerably in the last days and months of her life." Keegan was placed in foster care from an early age after being born in March 2014 to a heroin addict. She was placed with mother-of-four Downer, a member of her extended family, nine months before her death. Keegan DownerImage copyrightWest Midlands Police Image caption Keegan Downer was found with more than 150 injuries on her body An NSPCC spokesman said: "We hope this sentence will serve as a warning to deter others who would subject children in their care to such astonishing cruelty. "Little Keegan did not deserve to be treated so abhorrently in her short life. "Questions must be asked about how a woman who was entrusted with caring for Keegan ended up killing her. "A Serious Case Review must examine in detail the use of the Special Guardianship Order as well as the assessment and long term support arrangements in this case." Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board will conduct the Serious Case Review to establish if lessons can be learnt from the tragedy. It will publish its findings in summer.