Mother of Kemarni 'did not notice problems between boy and ex' before his death
A mother accused of murdering her son has told the jury she only realised there may have been problems between the child and her former boyfriend after the toddler had died.
Alicia Watson and Nathaniel Pope allegedly killed Kemarni Watson Darby, who died on June 5 from internal bleeding after being stamped on.
Under cross-examination by Pope's defence barrister Jonas Hankin QC, Watson told the jury that she only realised her three-year-old son sometimes ran to her when Pope entered the room after she had been arrested.
She told the jury that Pope often played with her son and that they laughed and joked together.
Mr Hankin put to her: "You didn't tell the police in your interview that Kemarni was fearful of Mr Pope? Nor in your prepared statement did you?"
Watson replied: " No, but I mentioned it somewhere."
The barrister than suggested she had introduced the idea of Kemarni being scared in order to "point the finger" at Mr Pope, which Watson denied, adding "I'm not a liar".
Watson also said: "I didn't think my son had been murdered. I was thinking he was sick, so that didn't come to my mind until afterwards."
Mr Hankin then repeated the suggestion that Watson introduced the idea in order to help her defence, to which Watson replied: "It's not a notion. I'm not enhancing anything. It's the truth."
And when Mr Hankin said that she alone was responsible for a "campaign of harm" against Kemarni, Watson described the claim as "ridiculous" and denied killing Kemarni when Mr Hankin accused her of it.
She said she "did not see any problems" between Kemarni and Pope and said she had "never had any problems with social services, paeds or the doctors."
The defendant also told the jury she was feeling "overwhelmed" in the months leading up to her son's death and that she was not irritated by him.
"I'm not the perfect mother, but I did my best," Watson told the court.
Kemarni was found collapsed at a two-bedroom property in West Bromwich.
Watson and then-boyfriend Pope, a chef, were arrested and questioned about Kemarni being murdered nine days after his death.
Watson previously told the jury that she questioned Pope about what had happened.
The jury was previously told that Kemarni had a black eye, had resorted to cutting his own hair and had tried to escape his West Bromwich home and sustained multiple injuries over a period of time including 19 rib fractures.
Pope, aged 32, of Evans Street, Wolverhampton, and Watson, 30, of Raglan Road, Handsworth, both deny murder and child cruelty.
The trial continues.
