Man stabbed pregnant ex-girlfriend to death and killed their baby in jealous rage

A man has been found guilty of the murder of his heavily pregnant ex-girlfriend and the manslaughter of their baby son.

Aaron McKenzie, 26, of Peckham, south London, broke into Kelly-Mary Fauvrelle’s bedroom in the middle of the night and stabbed her 21 times as her family slept upstairs, the Old Bailey heard.

The former couple’s son Riley was delivered by an emergency Caesarean – seven weeks before his due date – but died on a ventilator in hospital four days later.

The crane driver was convicted of the murder of Ms Fauvrelle, 26, the manslaughter of their baby son and the possession of an offensive weapon by a jury and will be sentenced at the same court on Friday, 17 July.

The ‘vicious and cowardly’ attack came after his ex told him she was ‘moving on’ from their ‘toxic’ relationship and seeing someone new, the prosecution said.

The defendant denied all charges, claiming another man who his ex-girlfriend owed money to was responsible.

Jurors deliberated for a total of two hours, 46 minutes to reach their verdicts.

Police were called to reports of an injured pregnant woman at a residential address at Thornton Heath at 3.30am on Saturday, 29 June 2019.

Medics from LAS and London’s Air Ambulance battled to save Ms Fauvrelle’s life, but she passed away at the scene.

In the wake of the attack, McKenzie pretended to have nothing to do with it and ‘posed as a victim’ at the hospital where medical staff were trying to save the life of his child, Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC said.

The defendant allegedly lied to police and did not tell them that he had spent over an hour before the killing accessing and reading his ex-partner’s emails.

He took a driving lesson hours after he attacked his former partner, the Old Bailey heard on July 1.

The crane driver was accused of continuing to deceive police, hospital staff and Ms Fauvrelle’s family until he was arrested.

He had admitted, via his solicitor, responsibility for the deaths saying: ‘No one else was involved in this. There was no reason for it other than my faults.’

McKenzie later claimed he had confessed to the offences while he was under pressure.

Detectives extensively looked into his claim that another man was responsible, but no evidence was discovered to corroborate this new account, or to indicate that the ‘new suspect’ who was partially named existed.

Claire Mays, from the CPS, said: ‘This was a vicious and cowardly attack on a heavily pregnant woman, which was borne out of jealousy. Aaron McKenzie murdered his ex-girlfriend and in turn also killed their child Riley.

‘Just hours after carrying out the attack, McKenzie went for a driving lesson as if nothing had happened.

‘The prosecution evidence included a confession McKenzie had made to police officers taking responsibility for the killings before he decided to change his story and blame his actions on his learning difficulties and depression.

‘By choosing to take this tragic case to trial McKenzie took the family of his victim through the heartbreak and ordeal of listening to all of his lies and the damning evidence against someone who had once been a part of their family.

‘Although nothing can bring back Kelly and Riley, I hope these convictions provide some comfort to the family. Our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.’.