A MONSTER stepdad has been found guilty of murdering a two-year-old girl after his Universal Credit payments were stopped.
Two-year-old Maya Chappell was brutally attacked by Michael Daymond, 27, while he looked after her at home alone.
She suffered a string of horrific injuries that suggested she was subjected to a "blunt force assault" likened to a car accident or a fall from a tall building.
Daymond has now been found guilty of murdering the toddler following a trial.
Maya's mum Dana Carr, 24, was convicted of child cruelty and allowing the death of a child.
Teesside Crown Court heard how she turned a blind eye to her evil partner's abuse of little Maya.
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Carr also lied about bruises she had just weeks before her death.
The toddler's dad James Chappell had repeatedly raised concerns about five marks she had on her face – causing the mum to beg a relative to lie on her behalf about the bruises.
When the dad messaged again the following day, he dismissed the claims and said: "Had Maya had been seen in this condition at a nursery there would be an immediate referral to social services."
As a result, jurors heard Carr removed their daughter from nursery and told her former partner Daymond was no longer around.
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In the hours leading up to the attack on September 28 last year, he had made repeated calls and log-in attempts to sort out his Universal Credit status.
By around 2pm, Daymond, who was looking after Maya alone, discovered he had been cut off.
Ninety minutes later, he made a 999 call saying Maya was "gasping for breath" and although her eyes were open, it was "like she wasn't there".
As Carr raced back home, she texted Daymond, saying "I'm coming", "please don't leave me" and "are you ok".
Maya was rushed to hospital but died two days later after never regaining consciousness.
A post mortem showed her death was not a "one-off" event but the culmination of a series of assaults.
Prosecutor Ben Nolan KC said: "The pathologist who carried out a post-mortem examination concluded Maya had been subjected to a blunt force assault likely comprising severe shaking perhaps combined with blunt force impacts to the head and forceful blows to the abdomen.
"Additionally, there had been gripping and or pulling of the jaw and left ear.
"Maya also had extensive head, neck and torso bruising.
"A constellation of injuries that, in the opinion of the pathologist, had been deliberately inflicted and resulted in severe brain damage from which she could not recover."
The court heard the couple began dating in 2022 and moved in together a month before Maya's death.
Carr was so infatuated with Daymond she "turned a "blind eye" to the abuse her daughter was suffering.
The pair will be sentenced on December 22.
Detective Superintendent Chris Barker said: "Maya Chappell died at the hands of someone who should have been caring for her.
"Maya was defenceless. She was two years old and should have felt safe at home, learning, playing and having fun but instead she lived in constant fear of what Michael Daymond was going to do to her next.
"She was too young to be able to tell anyone of her suffering and her mother Dana Carr who knew about the bruises but failed to act.
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"Daymond thought he could get away with causing her pain by feeding those around him repeated lies and excuses.
"Eventually he killed her. But his cowardly unwillingness to admit what he did means we may never know why he killed Maya or exactly what went on in the weeks leading up to her death."
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