Meth-addicted mother sentenced for manslaughter of 13-month-old son Makavelii Leoni, who overdosed on methamphetamine

A drug-addicted mother who pleaded guilty to manslaughter over the methylamphetamine overdose of her 13-month-old son has been sentenced in the Cairns Supreme Court.

LINA Marie Daley will be eligible for parole in March 2022 after pleading guilty to manslaughter over the fatal methylamphetamine overdose of her 13-month-old son Makavelii Leoni.

The 23-year-old’s sentencing, which began on October 18 but was delayed because of time constraints, resumed in the Cairns Supreme Court on October 28.

Justice Jim Henry imposed an eight and a half year jail term, with a parole eligibility date of March 23, 2022.

The sentence puts a bookmark in a horrific chapter for both the family of Makavelii Leoni’s father Brendan, and Daley’s family, which began on September 24, 2018.

The court heard Daley and Mr Leoni began their relationship at the age of 13.

Defence barrister Josh Trevino described it as a “difficult and highly dysfunctional relationship”, marred by serious violence “committed by Mr Leoni against Ms Daley”.

Justice Jim Henry said it was against that background and against the background of Daley’s growing methylamphetamine abuse that Mr Leoni and Daley split up and she moved into the White Rock home of her new boyfriend Michael Yeatman.

Makavelii Leoni, 13 months, died after ingesting enough methylamphetamine to kill an adult, a court has heard. His mother, Lina Marie Daley, pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Pic Facebook

The court heard that on September 23, Daley and Yeatman had been out and others were taking care of Makavelii.

They arrived home, where they began playing loud music in the bedroom where Makavelii was sleeping – the same bedroom where Daley kept her drugs, the court heard.

Justice Henry described how over the course of the night, Makavelii was crying with a cough, and agitated, and in the morning Daley was trying to soothe him.

While in a bath, Makavelii began turning blue and was in distress, the court heard.

He vomited twice, and CPR was commenced.

“Eventually an ambulance was called, and your son died soon after arriving at Cairns Base Hospital,” Justice Henry said.

“He died from methylamphetamine toxicity. The amount of methylamphetamine in him being in the fatal range, even for an adult.”

He described the manslaughter of Makavelii as a failure to meet a duty of care “because of your drug addled criminal negligence.”

Forensic police and plain clothes detectives investigate the death of Makavelii Leoni. Leoni's mother Lina Daley helps police with their investigations. Her 13 month old son was found unresponsive at a White Rock home on September 24, 2018, and died on the way to hospital. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE.

Daley also pleaded guilty to trafficking street level quantities of cannabis and methamphetamine between June 1, 2018 and May 22, 2019, and 20 summary charges that included enter premises and commit indictable offence, unlawful use of motor vehicle, stealing, possess dangerous drugs, common assault, possession of a knife in a public place and failure to appear.

Of Daley’s methamphetamine use, Justice Henry remarked: “That anyone thinks that they are immune to the properties of the drug, that they and they alone can take it and then won’t be tempted to take it again and again is remarkable given how notorious it is”.

“You join a long conga line of people who thought they could take the drug and it would be okay.

“You as so many others before you were of course wrong in that choice.”

In setting a parole eligibility date of March 23, 2022, Justice Henry took into account Daley’s 888 days already served in custody.

Originally published as Meth-addicted mother sentenced for manslaughter of 13-month-old son Makavelii Leoni, who overdosed on methamphetamine