An evil mother and father have been found guilty of murdering their 13-week-old baby who was discovered unresponsive in their home last year.
Klevi Pirjani, 37, and his partner Nivalda Santos Pirjani, 34, of Seacombe, Wirral, were convicted of murder, causing or allowing the death of a child and grievous bodily harm at Liverpool Crown Court today.
It comes after the couple were charged the morning after their baby boy died after he collapsed with a traumatic brain injury on November 24, 2024.
Three-month-old Miguel was ‘totally reliant on his parents for his wellbeing, yet they were responsible for his murder and neither did anything to prevent it,’ the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
During a trial at Liverpool Crown Court, it was heard how the child’s father called emergency services at 11.57am where he told call handlers, ‘it just stopped breathing.’
Paramedics arrived at the property ‘within minutes’ to find Miguel in a cardiac arrest and revived him, however, his condition continued to be ‘extremely serious’ so he was taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Prosecuting Peter Wright said Nivalda maintained it was her husband that cared for Miguel, while she also appearing to prevent police officers from speaking with her other children by claiming they were shy.
‘At the hospital, Klevi was seeking updates, but seemed concerned as to what information the police knew. At no stage was Nivalda asking for any updates as to Miguel’s condition,’ he told the court in October.
Klevi Pirjani, 37, (left) and his partner Nivalda Santos Pirjani (right), 34, of Seacombe, Wirral, were convicted of murder, causing or allowing the death of a child and grievous bodily at Liverpool Crown Court today.
It comes after the couple were charged the morning after their baby boy died after he collapsed with a traumatic brain injury on November 24, 2024 (Pictured: Percy Road where the couple lived)
‘As they travelled independently of each other to the hospital there were repeated efforts to contact each other. When contact was made, Nivalda appeared aggressive towards Klevi in tone.’
After the baby was admitted to hospital, a CT scan found Miguel had suffered a ‘fissure’ to his skull and a brain bleed, along with multiple fractures of varying ages to his right collar bone, left upper arm, and left shin.
On November 29, his condition was described as ‘irreversible’, and he was later taken off life support.
A post-mortem examination revealed a number of previous fractures to Miguel’s body, bruising around his left eye, retinal haemorrhages, displaced skull bones, bleeding on both sides of the brain, bleeding around the cervical cord and a fatal hypoxic ischaemic brain injury (starvation of oxygen to the brain).
Initially, the duo denied all charges lodged against them, but Nivalda later entered a guilty plea for causing or allowing the death of a child, which was denied by the prosecution.
During a police interview, Nivalda claimed in a prepared statement that her partner was abusive and had previously assaulted their two other children, however, she did not blame him for Miguel’s injuries.
Miguel’s mother told police ‘she was frightened of Klevi and feared what he may do’.
The prosecution would later brand her account as ‘fiction’ and a ‘calculated’ bid to ‘conceal her own involvement’ and ‘to infer that any responsibility for the injuries sustained by Miguel and his death are the sole responsibility of her partner Klevi.’
Tributes outside a house on Percy Road in Seacombe, Merseyside, after the death of three-month-old Miguel Pirjani
Miguel died at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool (pictured) on November 29 after the withdrawal of life support
‘We say they were in it together from the start,’ Mr Wright previously said at the opening hearing in October.
In a separate interview, Klevi argued against the mother’s claims and maintained his son had been to several appointments with healthcare professionals where no concerns had been flagged.
He also questioned if Miguel’s rib fractures were the result of CPR, a claim which was later disputed by the Home Office Forensic Pathologist.
‘Each of the injuries found, whether fatal or non-fatal were, in his professional opinion, non-accidental in origin,’ Mr Wright told the court.
‘We say Miguel was systematically physically abused by his parents. They caused him really serious non-fatal injury with intent to do so. They caused or allowed his death.’
Following the guilty verdict, Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Holly Chance, from Merseyside Police, said: ‘This was a truly shocking murder of baby Miguel Pirjani, and it has been an extremely distressing case for us to investigate.
‘Miguel was only three months old when his life was tragically cut short at the violent hands of his parents.
‘Today’s conviction of Klevi and Nivalda is exceptionally heartbreaking as Miguel lost his life tragically by his own parents, who were meant to nurture and protect him from harm.’
