Lavinia Alison Murray: Mother charged with manslaughter over baby drowning

The case against a mother accused of checking Facebook while her baby drowned in a laundry sink has been further delayed, with the next hearing set for February. Full details here:

The case against a woman accused of checking Facebook while her baby drowned has been adjourned yet again.

Lavinia Alison Murray is accused of leaving her seven-month-old baby in a makeshift bath in the laundry sink for up to 10 minutes on three separate occasions, before returning a fourth time to find the little girl blue and unresponsive on February 5 this year.

Despite it nearly being a year since the tragic day the young child lost her life, the case is still sitting in Magistrates Court.

Ms Murray’s case was mentioned again in Murgon Magistrates Court on December 14, with her legal team requesting a hearing to apply to cross-examine two witnesses.

Prosecutor Barry Stevens told the court the examination would be in regards to whether the 21-year-old was suffering postnatal depression at the time her child died.

Lavinia Alison Murray

Emergency crews were called to Ms Murray’s Murgon home in February after the baby girl was found unresponsive.

The baby was rushed to hospital but she was tragically pronounced dead a short time later.

Documents tendered to the court in February alleged Ms Murray filled the laundry sink with water and was washing the child with a pair of underpants before the drowning.

It’s alleged she left the little girl on her own in the sink four times for a period of up to 10 minutes each time to spend time on Facebook and tend to her other children, aged one and four.

Ms Murray’s case was adjourned to February 9.