‘Can you take her?’: Shock text sent before death of Chinchilla toddler Kaydence Mills

During a chilling insight into the family dynamics of missing Queensland toddler Kaydence Mills, a court has been told her mother’s boyfriend admitted he didn’t like the two-year-old girl and why.

Kaydence Mills and her mother Sinitta a handful of months before the girls deah. Picture: File / Supplied

A chilling insight into the family dynamics of missing Queensland toddler, Kaydence Mills, who was allegedly ostracised, beaten, and starved for the “supposed sins” of her father, was revealed in court by friends and family.

The two-year-old’s mother Sinitta Dawita, and her then-boyfriend Tane Desatge, pleaded not guilty to torturing and murdering the girl at their Western Downs rental in early 2017.

Full trial details here.

Tane Desatge and Sinitta Dawita are expected to stand trial charged with the murder and torture of two-year-old Chinchilla girl Kaydence Mills.

On day one of the trial the Crown alleged Kaydence was often assaulted by Mr Desatge at the Chinchilla home, and he would tease Kaydence’s siblings if they went to her aid.

The little girl wasn’t allowed to eat with her siblings, and slept alone and naked in a toilet in a small tiled room with a toilet, the Crown alleged.

On day two of the trial, a childhood friend of Ms Dawita, Isobel Banu, gave evidence before the Toowoomba Supreme Court on Tuesday, July 23, via videolink from Tully in North Queensland, where Kaydence lived before the family moved to Chinchilla.

Ms Banu reconnected with Ms Dawita a handful of months before Kaydence died and spoke to her around the time of the girl’s death in 2017.

Investigators cordoned off the little girl's home on the corner of Inverai Rd and Burbank St at Chinchilla for a number of days in late 2019, months after Kaydence was reported missing. Pictures: Peta McEachern

Ms Banu said in late 2016, she stayed overnight at Ms Dawita’s unit in Tully, where she met Kaydence, her siblings, and Mr Desatge for the first time.

She said Desatge constantly loitered around her and Dawita listening in on their conversations, to the point she told him to go away because he was creeping her out.

Looks of disgust levelled at girls

Ms Banu testified that Ms Dawita seemed shut down and would act differently around Mr Desatge, however when they went on a bottleshop trip alone, Ms Dawita seemed a lot more relaxed.

She said Mr Desatge would treat Kaydence and her older sisters differently to his biological born son, who he constantly fussed over.

When Ms Dawita’s barrister David Jones KC asked Ms Banu to clarify, she said Mr Desatge would look over at the girls with “beaming eyes,” in what looked like disgust, frustration, and disinterest.

On December 3, 2019, meters away from the Warrego Highway investigators cordoned off the little girl's home on the corner of Inverai Rd and Burbank St where they excavated a shed in the backyard where her body was allegedly kept. Pictures: Peta McEachern

Ms Banu also said during the stay, she had asked Ms Dawita “what is going on?”

She didn’t respond to the question.

Ms Banu said she returned to visit about two days later and the flat was empty.

She had no idea they were moving.

Ms Banu said the next time she spoke with Ms Dawita was early February 2017 and Ms Dawita asked her and another friend if they could take Kaydence.

She said she organised to take Kaydence but Dawita never followed through.

The Crown alleged Kaydence was killed sometime between February and May 2017.

Toddler suffered for “supposed sins” of biological dad

The court heard Ms Dawita’s brother, Raymond Dickman, visited the Tully unit at least twice a week.

During Mr Dickman’s evidence, he said during the visits he noticed Mr Desatge would not go near Kaydence, and never picked her up despite doing so with the other children.

Tane Desatge.

Mr Dickman said during one visit Mr Desatge told him he did not like Kaydence because her biological father had him bashed because he was mad when he found out they were together.

Kaydence’s father, Robert Mills, was set to take the stand during the trial, however the Crown said he will instead provide a formal admission to the court on Wednesday, July 23, on day three of the trial.

The court was told the relationship between Ms Dawita and Mr Mills fell apart about the same time Kaydence was born in 2014.

The Crown says Kaydence suffered for the “supposed sins” of Mr Mills.