Three remanded in custody in connection with death of toddler in Co Tyrone

A man and two women have been remanded in custody over the death of a 23-month-old child in Co Tyrone.

Tavia Da Costa is believed to have died on Sunday just weeks before her second birthday.

Strabane Magistrates’ Court on Thursday heard the child’s body was covered in bruises, including to her head and face, and a post-mortem examination concluded the cause of death was brain injury due to blunt force trauma.

Januaria Sarmento Ximenes (29), of Windmill Court, Dungannon, who was the partner of Tavia’s mother, appeared before the court charged with her murder on October 13th, 2024 as well as child cruelty.

Tavia’s mother, Suzi Augusta Jacinta Da Costa (21), of Windmill Court, Dungannon, was charged with manslaughter, causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person and child cruelty.

Tavia’s aunt Suzana Da Costa (24), of Windmill Court, Dungannon, was also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person and child cruelty.

All three appeared via videolink from Musgrave police station in Belfast.

A detective sergeant told the court he believes he can connect the accused to the charges.

A Tetun interpreter was involved in proceedings. All three indicated they understood the charges.

Police objected to bail for all three on a number of factors, including potential risk of flight and interference with witnesses, as well as community tensions within the East Timorese community in Dungannon and recent anti-immigration protests in Northern Ireland.

The prosecution said Tavia was born on October 27th, 2022 and lived with her mother and aunt in a small two-bedroom house in Dungannon, and evidence suggests she was “well looked after” by her mother, aunt and grandmother.

They outlined that Suzi met Ximenes in June, started a relationship and he moved into her home in August, where Tavia and Suzana also lived.

The child’s grandmother was said to have told police that she had been “isolated” from Suzi and Tavia since June.

She said she received a phone call from her daughter Suzi on Sunday saying there was “something wrong with Tavia”. She advised taking the child to hospital, but her daughter asked her to come to the house, and she arrived to find Tavia dead, and “appeared to have been dead for some time”. Her brother later came to the house and called 999.

The grandmother also told police that Mr Ximenes was “calm and emotionless”, and suggested: “Let’s resolve this as a family.”

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service arrived at the property at 9.21am and notified police, who started an investigation and arrested the three defendants.

The court heard the post-mortem examination showed Tavia’s body was covered in bruises, including to her head and face.

The cause of death was found to be a brain injury caused by blunt force trauma.

The court heard there was evidence that Tavia had been shaken and that the pathologist said they believed the injuries were not accidental, including grip marks on her arm and a scald burn on her ear.

The prosecution went on to outline evidence to police by a witness that they heard two women in the address where Tavia lived “hysterically screaming” for around 10 minutes between 2.30am and 3am on Sunday.

Police evidence suggests Mr Ximenes had been out at a nightclub in Dungannon on Saturday night and was seen by local police appearing angry and aggressive. They contend he left the nightclub at around 2am and would have got home by 2.30am.

During police interviews, the prosecution said initially Suzi said Tavia had fallen and that Mr Ximenes was a “great guy”, but later changed her account to say he was “violent and abusive” to both Tavia and to her, with the violence increasing from last Wednesday.

Suzana said in interview that she had not seen Tavia since Tuesday and spent her time almost completely in her room. She said she went to a party all night on Friday and slept all day on Saturday, but later said the party had been all day on Friday and she returned home on 10pm on Friday and stayed in her room for 21 hours.

The court heard she said she did not see anything, but also that she did not like Mr Ximenes and stayed out of his way, adding she “heard nothing and saw nothing”, and could not explain the screaming heard by the witness.

Mr Ximenes said he denied all wrongdoing toward Suzi and Tavia, and that the child had fallen and they put hot water on her injury. He also said he had not returned home until between 4am and 6am on Sunday after his night out.

His legal defence said the only direct evidence against his client is Suzi’s evidence and insisted he is entitled to presumption of innocence.

A legal representative for Suzi alleged she had been a victim of domestic violence and coercion, and had been “completely under the control” of her partner.

Meanwhile, Suzana’s defence questioned her connection to the child cruelty charge and argued she did not have responsibility for the child at the relevant times in this case.

Judge Mullen described a “very sad situation where we have a very young child who has lost their life”, adding: “We need to be mindful and respectful of that.”

She refused bail for all three, expressing a particular concern around a risk of flight and potential interference with witnesses.

The three defendants are to appear before Dungannon Magistrates’ Court on November 13th. – PA