Mother reads out teary ode to 10-month-old baby killed by man

A mother told a court she’s in a ‘living nightmare’ after the death of her 10-month-old son who was shaken and dropped into his cot. Warning, distressing content.

Daniel John Ridgers, 25. Picture: Facebook

The mother of a baby killed by being shaken and dropped into his cot has read out an emotional tribute to her ‘perfect sweet little baby’ in a Wednesday sentencing hearing.

Hobart mother Maddison Butler shared the ‘living nightmare’ her life has become after the death of her 10-month-old son Khaylan Shayne Butler in December last year, reading aloud her statement while displaying an arm tattoo of baby Khaylan.

“Time doesn’t heal – it just takes me further away from the last time I saw my baby,” she said.

“It’s the same if I see an ambulance or hospital, I see the doctors drilling a line in my tiny little Khaylan.

“They turned off his life-support and I watched the life slowly leave his body, I never knew you could hurt like that.”

Khaylan Shayne Butler, 10-months-old, was killed after being shaken and dropped into his cot in November 2023. Picture: GoFundMe.

Tearful family and friends of Khaylan lined the rear of the Supreme Court of Tasmania as Acting Justice David Porter began the sentencing hearing into the manslaughter charges against Ms Butler’s former partner Daniel John Ridgers.

Ridgers, 26, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in November after the charge of murder was downgraded.

Prosecution Heather Denton said that injuries caused to baby Khaylan – bruises, a severe brain injury and a soft palate tear in his mouth – were the result of Ridgers picking a crying Khaylan up and shaking him numerous times before dropping him from a height of 60cm into his crib where he then hit his head.

Ms Denton then read excerpts from police interviews with Ridgers after Khaylan was admitted to hospital on December 1, where he changes his explanation for Khaylan’s injuries.

Ridgers’ final statement states that he had grown frustrated with how ‘sooky’ Khaylan was after picking both the baby and his five-year-old brother up from their grandparents while Ms Butler was working.

Daniel John Ridgers, 25. Picture: Facebook

“He said ‘He was real sooky, he just sooked and sooked and sooked, so I grabbed him under his arms and shook him,” Ridgers’ stated to police.

“‘I just flipped, I was just having a bad day’.

“‘Once I dropped him in the cot, he rolled on the mattress and hit his head on the cot – that’s how he got the bruise’.”

Ridgers appeared to cry from the dock as the victim impact statement and facts for the case were read aloud.

The hearing was adjourned until Friday, December 20.