Melissa Wilband convicted of manslaughter for shaking baby

Melissa Wilband, 28, has been found guilty of manslaughter for violently shaking her four-month-old daughter, Lexi Wilband, who collapsed in their home in Newent, Gloucestershire, in April 2020. The court heard that Lexi died from a brain bleed likely caused by being shaken, both recently and on at least one earlier occasion. Wilband's former partner, Jack Wheeler, was acquitted of charges related to Lexi's death after the prosecution dropped the manslaughter charge against him. During the trial, it was revealed that Wilband had faked a DNA test to convince Wheeler he was Lexi's father, though he was not biologically related to her. Lexi died at Bristol Children's Hospital on April 18, 2020, six days after her collapse. Wilband is set to be sentenced on May 22, 2025.