Remorseless killer jailed for attacking vulnerable baby
A brutal murderer who attacked a defenseless baby and then tried to pin the blame on the child’s mother has been jailed for 13 years.
Benjamin Joseph Swann, 31, gritted his teeth and stared straight ahead as Victorian Supreme Court Justice James Gorton handed down his sentence on Thursday morning.
Swann pleaded guilty to child murder and admitted deliberately causing trauma to baby Elijah’s head with blunt force while in a frustrated and angry state at a home in Werribee.
When she went to Elijah’s room to calm the crying baby around 4 a.m. on January 19, 2024, the boy’s mother, Elyce, heard a loud explosion.
Swann returned to the bedroom carrying Elijah and told Elyce to “get this damn baby” before leaving to prepare a bottle.
That’s when Elyce noticed her son was making an unusual wheezing sound and having trouble breathing.
When Swann suggested they call an ambulance, he told her to wait but ignored her when she noticed her son was bruised.
Elijah was taken to the hospital by paramedics, where doctors eventually determined he suffered a brain injury from blunt force trauma to his head that left him unable to survive.
He was taken off life support and died in his mother’s arms in the early hours of January 20, at just 115 days old.
In the immediate aftermath and when he was arrested on February 8, Swann denied hitting Elijah, pushing or dropping the little boy.
He also pointed the blame at Elyce, claiming that his girlfriend was suffering from severe postpartum depression and that she might have done something to her son.
Judge Gorton said Swann’s actions after Elijah’s death were callous and deliberate.
“Even as Elijah was fighting for his life, you were putting your own interests above his,” the judge said.
Judge Gorton accepted that Elijah could not have been saved even if Swann had pled guilty sooner.
However, the judge said Swann did not know this, so his decision to divert blame should be seen as aggravating the entire crime.
He also stated that Swann had shown no remorse and that his victim was a defenseless and defenseless baby.
“He had his whole life ahead of him,” Judge Gorton said.
“He’ll never grow up again.”
The judge accepted that Swann had taken steps to resolve his anger management issues and that his prospects for rehabilitation were moderate.
But Judge Gorton said the attack was still a serious example of the serious charge of child murder.
Swann was sentenced to 13 years in prison but will be eligible for parole after nine years and six months.
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