Woman in Earlsdon arrested on suspicion of boy's murder

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a five-year-old boy died at a house in Coventry



Emergency crews found the seriously-injured boy at an address in Poplar Road, Earlsdon, at about 17:55 GMT, West Midlands Police said.

Despite attempts by paramedics to save him he was confirmed dead at the scene.

A 49-year-old woman, who is understood to be known to the boy, has been arrested and taken into custody for questioning, the force said.

Supt Ronan Tyrer, from Coventry Police, said the death was "an absolute tragedy" which would cause "shock and concern".

"We'll continue to having a policing presence in the area and do our best to support everyone during this difficult time," he said.

The scene has been cordoned off for further investigation.

Family grieving for 'happy' Coventry boy killed by gran as she is hospitalised indefinitely



A woman has been hospitalised indefinitely after killing her grandson 'out of love' in Coventry among delusional fears someone else would harm him, a court was told. Romanian national Elena Anghel was suffering delusions linked to paranoid schizophrenia when she killed David-Mario Lazar at their house in Poplar Road, Earlsdon, on January 25 last year.

The boy's family say they are still trying to come with their heartbreaking loss. They were praised for their courage by the judge.

David-Mario’s parents, Cristina and Cristina and Dorinel, were present in court for the sentencing hearing. They were thanked by the judge for their courage and graciousness in watching the case.

Addressing the events which led to the boy’s death, Mr Tehrani added: "When Mario arrived home he shouted to the defendant that he was home. The defendant asked him how school had been.

"The defendant appeared to be her normal self and had been in the preceding weeks as far as they could tell." Shortly before 5.15pm, the court heard, Anghel went to a Co-op store in nearby Earlsdon Street in a distressed state, appearing to say “police” and “translate” repeatedly.

Police were called to the scene. Anghel told an officer who could speak Romanian that she had killed her grandson, making delusional claims that she had not wanted him to suffer serious assaults at the hands of someone else.

Mr Tehrani said: "She said she had done what she had done to Mario out of love. When they (police officers) attended the property, the horror of what had happened within the property became evident. Mario’s body was lifeless.

"No pulse was detected and there was no other signs of life. Shortly thereafter Mario was declared dead."

Mrs Justice Cockerill was told Anghel, who was accompanied in the dock by four health workers and an interpreter, has an extensive history of treatment in Romania for psychotic and depressive disorders dating back to at least 2009. In the victim impact statement, David-Mario’s mother said: “Mario was five years old when he died and he was killed by my mother... I never saw her do anything around my son that would alarm me.

"She loved him and he loved her. I would never have trusted her to care for Mario if she had shown any signs of illness."

Opening the facts of the case against Anghel, Mr Tehrani said a forensic psychiatrist had stressed that, in his opinion, the defendant was “very unwell” at the time of the killing. Mr Tehrani said Anghel had joined other family members in Coventry after being treated for a “moderate” mental disorder in March 2020 in Romania.

The prosecutor told the court: "She has no previous convictions. She does however have a psychiatric history. Mario’s parents were aware that the defendant had had prior problems with mental health. Mario’s parents were not aware of any continuing mental health issues."

The court heard Romania-born David-Mario, described as a bright boy who took pleasure in learning English, was killed after coming home from school with his father, who then returned to work. A post-mortem examination showed he had suffered a total of 29 areas of sharp force injury, including wounds to his head, chest, back and hand.

Passing sentence on the 51-year-old at Warwick Crown Court, High Court judge Mrs Justice Cockerill described the case as “truly tragic”. The judge told Anghel: “The sad truth is that when you killed Mario you were exceedingly mentally unwell. Your delusions were all encompassing. You had in effect lost contact with reality.

“You were convinced that your grandson was in such danger of terrible suffering that it would be better to kill him and that is what you did. I am sure you would never have hurt, much less killed, Mario had you not been very ill.”