Naomi Hill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joanne Hill had depression after Naomi was born. She blamed herself for her daughter’s impairment, feeling responsible for her cerebral palsy. She was ashamed of Naomi’s condition and the fact that Naomi was partially deaf and wore callipers, and dressed her in trousers so that they wouldn’t show. Hill wanted to put Naomi up for adoption but hatched the plan to kill her when her husband refused.

 

On November 26, 2007 Joanne Hill poured herself a glass of wine before killing her own daughter, Naomi who suffered from cerebral palsy. She carried Naomi would had difficulty walking upstairs, undressed her, sat her in the bath before pushing her face down by the neck and holding her daughter’s head under water for about ten minutes until she stopped moving.

After she drowned Naomi, Hill She then lifted Naomi body out of the tub, dressed her daughter's body as if nothing was wrong and put her on the back seat of her blue Renault Megane in a child’s seat and left before Simon Hill returned home from work. Hill drove Naomi around for eight hours, drinking several glasses of wine, before taking her to hospital.It is known what Hill did during the eight hours after Naomi's death, but it was not until 3.35am that she turned up drunk at The Countess of Chester Hospital with Naomi’s  lifeless body in her arms and calmly told hospital staff: “I think she’s dead” and asked if they could  make her better. She lied to doctors and said she found Naomi not responsive and by saying she arrived in a taxi. After Naomi was pronounced dead, police were notified and when asked what happened to the little girl, Hill told them she couldn't remember. A post mortem examination found Naomi had died by drowning and also found facial haemorrhages which point to Naomi’s head being forcibly held under water with her face against the surface of the bath. There was evidence that a hand was held over Naomi's mouth and nose.

 

Hill was arrested an hour after arrival and was found to be twice over the drink driving limit and police doctors advised she could not be interviewed until she had sobered up. Joanne Hill denied murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.A psychiatrist called by her legal team claimed she had relapsed into a state of mental disorder. The prosecution maintained that despite having been mentally ill earlier in her life, at the time of Naomi's murder she was suffering no abnormality of mind. Judge Elgan Edwards told Hill said "There can be no excuse for what you did". He nevertheless hoped that she would soon be taken out of the prison system and returned to a secure hospital unit. "This has been a very sad case," he said. "Sad for you, for your husband, for the child you killed". Hill was sentenced to life in prison.

 

Unknown - Nov. 26, 2007