Jessy Johnson in hospital after giving birth to her stillborn daughter
A woman who gave birth to a stillborn baby daughter after being kicked in the stomach by her partner five days from her due date has revealed she truly believe ‘a miracle was going to happen.
Jessy Johnson, 21, was warned by social services not long after falling pregnant that she should stay away from her violent partner Stuart Samson, but the pair stayed together through her pregnancy.
Samson, 37, the baby’s father, was known to social services following previous violent behaviour but the teenager believed things would get better.
However, on April 16 last year Jessy lost her daughter when a drunk Samson kicked attacked her in a bar, and whispered in her ear not to call an ambulance.
The grief-stricken young mum was told the baby had died days later but kept the news a secret – refusing to tell any of her family the devastating news she already knew.
Miss Johnson said: ‘I didn’t tell anybody except my best friend that Mila had died.
‘I had everyone coming up and saying, ‘not long now’ and I had to go along with it. It was horrible.
‘I’m so angry about his sentence. No sentence will bring back my baby.
‘He only pleaded guilty to get a lesser sentence and he showed no remorse at court from what I saw.
Miss Johnson during the later stages of her pregnancy. She lost the baby after being attacked by her boyfriend Stuart Samson
Stillborn baby Mila, pictured in mum Jessy Johnsons 12-week scan. Her mother has spoken of her heartbreak at losing her ‘angel’
‘What really annoys me is that they didn’t charge him with murder or child destruction.
‘The prosecution told me because the baby had not been born they didn’t see her as being human – even though she was full-term.’
Samson pleaded guilty to two offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Leeds Crown Court and was jailed for two years and nine months yesterday.
The court heard how Jessy fell to the ground in pain and was unable to get up and
Samson had whispered in her ear not to request an ambulance so that social services would not become involved.
She even believed the baby girl would be alive when delivered and continued to hope for a miracle.
Speaking about the regret she now feels after her baby girl, Mila Frances, was born stillborn, Jessy said: ‘I just wish I had listened to them and stayed away.
Jessy Johnson with a picture of her stillborn baby
A tattoo on Miss Johnson’s back in dedication to her daughter, saying she held an angel in her arms
‘I feel like this is my fault because I should never have got back with him after the other times. They were right.’
During Samson’s sentencing Leeds Crown Court heard how Jessy had left the Alpha Club, in Hemsworth, West Yorkshire, without calling for emergency services and went to her mother’s home.
But she was horrified when she could not feel her baby moving the next day.
She went to hospital after being unable to find the baby’s heartbeat when using a monitor.
A more detailed scan revealed the baby had died.
Describing Samson’s reaction to the incident which led to Mila’s death, Jessy said: ‘I asked for an ambulance but Stuart told me social services would get involved and they would take the baby off of us.
‘They had already warned me to stay away from him and I was scared they would find find out I was still with him.’
Jessy met Stuart when she just 16 through family members and the pair started dating.
Partners Jessy Johnson and Stuart Samson when they were together in happier times. He has been jailed for two-and-a-half years
For the first few months things were fine but she soon realised he was a different person when drunk and his binge drinking would go on for weeks at a time.
She said: ‘As soon as I heard his drunken voice I knew there would be trouble.
‘If I said the slightest thing he didn’t like he would freak out.
‘This often led to full-on fist-fights where I would have to run out of his house to relatives.
‘But I always went back.’
Things got better for the couple when they moved away from bad influences but the drinking soon started again.
Then on April 16 2016 Stuart became angry and violent because Jessy had left him alone at the bar.
Another image of Miss Johnson when pregnant
He kicked her in the stomach as she got up to walk away.
She said: ‘I fell and was in absolute agony.
‘Stuart had to carry me to my mum’s but he didn’t believe I was in pain and kept calling me a drama queen.
‘The next day when I couldn’t feel anything I got really scared and a couple of days later an internal scan confirmed the baby had died.
‘They gave me tablets to induce me and I had to go home. ‘
Jessy added: ‘Having the baby delivered was weird because all my family was there and it was like a normal birth.
‘I really believed a miracle was going to happen and she would be alive when she came.
‘I stayed with her in a room for a couple of days at the hospital until she started to change.’
Mila Frances was born on April 21 and was buried the following August.
The burial was delayed for post-mortem investigations after Jessy reported what had happened to police.
However, Jessy became involved with Samson again and in February this year he assaulted her again while drunk – this time hitting punching her and chipping her tooth.
After she reported the assault he was arrested and remanded into custody.
Jessy said: ‘I sometimes wonder if reporting him for that sped up the investigations about Mila.
‘Now he has been sentenced I feel I’ve got some justice for her and maybe one day will be able to move on with my life.
‘But I don’t think Stuart will learn anything from this.
‘He won’t ever never change.’