Martin Saunders: Rochelle Kennedy reveals awful truth behind baby boy’s death

The full story of a Sydney baby’s death at just 10 weeks can now be revealed after his mother gave consent to him being identified.

A Sydney mother says she will never be able to forgive her ex-partner who fatally shook their 10-week-old baby boy while she was at work.

But, for the sake of their two other children, Rochelle Kennedy still speaks to Martin Saunders, who is on remand awaiting to be sentenced over the 2019 manslaughter of little Ryan Kennedy.

The full story of Ryan’s tragic death can now be revealed after Ms Kennedy gave consent to her son being identified and Saunders pleaded guilty to his charge.

Rochelle Kennedy and Martin Saunders kiss baby Ryan goodbye in hospital.

“There’s no words for it,” Ms Kennedy, 29, told The Daily Telegraph this week.

“Our children are supposed to be planning our funerals and either cremating or burying us – we’re not meant to be doing it for our children.

“It’s not normal.”

Agreed facts state Saunders, 26, who will be sentenced in the NSW District Court in August, stayed at their Bidwill home with Ryan when Ms Kennedy left to do a night shift at a farmer’s market a few weeks before Christmas.

Saunders tried to feed Ryan when he forcefully shook the baby, who started screaming and making a “weird breathing noise”.

Paramedics were called and rushed Ryan to hospital with critical internal injuries.

The following day Ms Kennedy and Saunders were forced to switch off Ryan’s life support because he had no signs of brain activity and they were pictured in a poignant photograph kissing him goodbye.

But it wasn’t until police interviewed the pair two days later when Ms Kennedy learnt the awful truth.

Under questioning Saunders admitted to detectives he shook Ryan.

Baby Ryan Kennedy died in December, 2019.

Rochelle Kennedy and Martin Saunders.

A police officer told him: “You’ve got to tell us what’s happened mate. It’s the only way we can be of any assistance to you. The only way to make---”, to which Saunders said: “I understand that, I’m just very scared of going to jail for the rest of my life … yeah, I shook him.”

Ms Kennedy was in a separate interview room and, as she left the station, she saw Saunders through a Perspex window.

She said he told her: “I’m sorry”. The penny dropped and Ms Kennedy flew into a rage.

“I said: ‘Mart, something’s really wrong?’ And that’s when he looked at me and he put his head down and I said: ‘You did this, didn’t you?’ And he didn’t look at me,” she said.

Ms Kennedy said Saunders had been let down by mental health services and did not mean to hurt Ryan that night.

“I don’t blame him for what happened, but I’ll never forgive him because he stole my son’s life,” she said.

“I can’t sit there and hold it against him, because we’ve got other children together, it wouldn’t be fair to my other children if I just sat there and spoke negatively about him and constantly put him down.”