Mother pleads GUILTY to murdering her baby girl after her partner left her alone to have a shower and returned to find the bub ‘unresponsive’
- Cassandra Rose Doohan was 18 at the when her four-month-old daughter died
- Her baby Anastasia was found unresponsive, while her partner was in the shower
- He had asked Doohan to look after her, while he was in the shower for 15 minutes
- Anastasia suffered catastrophic brain injuries and died in hospital after two days
- Doohan pleaded guilty to murdering her four-month-old at the Supreme Court
A young mother has pleaded guilty to murdering her four-month-old baby daughter in their Western Australian home.
Cassandra Rose Doohan was 18 when her daughter Anastasia Hand was found unresponsive by her partner, while he was in the shower for 15 minutes on May 2017.
The baby, who suffered catastrophic brain injuries, was taken to Bunbury Regional Hospital and transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth where she died two days later.
Cassandra Rose Doohan (pictured), 20, has pleaded guilty to the murder of her four-month-old baby daughter
Anastasia Hand (pictured) was found unresponsive by Doohan’s partner in May 2017
Doohan, now 20, formally entered a not guilty plea during her first appearance in the Supreme Court of WA in September and was remanded in custody.
But she changed her plea to guilty at a status conference on Thursday.
Doohan was first charged with grievous bodily harm to Anastasia but her original charge was then upgraded to murder.
The 20-year-old was was asked by her partner to look after Anastasia while he was in the shower for 15 minutes.
At a previous hearing, the court was told doctors discovered the infant had suffered a catastrophic non-accidental injury to her brain.
Anastasia died on May 28, after two days in hospital.
Doctors say Anastasia suffered catastrophic non-accidental head injuries to her brain
Seamus Rafferty, Doohan’s lawyer, will argue for his client to receive a fixed jail term instead of a life sentence because her case was ‘exceptional’, ABC News reported.
A life sentenced is usually the punishment for murder.
Doohan will be sentenced later this year.
Doohan initially pleaded not guilty to the murder of her baby daughter but entered a guilty plea at the Supreme Court on Thursday