Daniel Pelka Murder: Parents Arrested For Starving, Beating Four-Year-Old To Death

The Daniel Pelka murder occurred in March 2012, but on Wednesday, a jury finally brought his killers to justice.

Pelka, a four-year-old child was starved, drowned to the point of unconsciousness, poisoned with salt, and finally died from a blow to the head after living what authorities called a “wretched” existence over the course of more than a year.

During the nine-week trial, a doctor described Pelka’s tiny, 30.4-pound body as having been through a concentration camp. (His weight at the time of death was more on par with an 18-month-old baby’s, the doctor said.)

On Friday, the BBC reported, Daniel finally received justice when a jury convicted mother Magdelena Luczak, 27, and her partner, Mariusz Krezolek, 34, for the murder.

The pair continue to deny the accusation, though mother Luczak admitted through counsel that she was guilty of “causing or allowing her son’s death.”

Krezolek admitted to neither the murder nor the charge of “causing or allowing” the boy’s death.

Both defendants gave different versions of the Daniel Pelka murder, blaming each other.

The official cause of death was a head injury and occurred in the city of Coventry, located in the British county of West Midlands. West Midlands Police admitted the case was more affecting than most.

According to Detective Inspector Chris Hanson, the killing was “pre-planned and premeditated”.

“He was beaten, he was drowned and he was poisoned with salt – it was an absolutely wretched existence … The investigation has had a profound effect on us all. The team have fallen in love with this little boy, and we have photographs of Daniel all around our office. We will never forget him.”

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Daniel had been starved so badly that he took to stealing food from classmates and school dustbins. The boy’s biological father lived in Poland and was shocked to hear of his son’s treatment.

“I hope that those responsible will be punished severely. … I hate them.”

Here’s a bit more on the Daniel Pelka murder case from ITV News:

Unfortunately, the Daniel Pelka murder is just one more gut-wrenching example of a child gone too soon, murdered at the hands of the people, who should have cared for him the most.

Earlier this week, The Inquisitr reported on a toddler bound to her car seat, who died of suffocation after the father stuffed a blanket in her mouth for close to three hours.

Also this month, a teen mom punched her baby in the head shortly after giving birth at a campsite in Michigan. The child was taken to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

Do you think the Daniel Pelka murder could have been prevented if authorities had been more aware of the warning signs?

[Image a family photo via i3.mirror.co.uk]