In the days after her two-year-old boy was murdered by her partner, Stacie Saggers felt humiliated and feared for her own life.
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"A mother that had just lost her baby was arrested as a suspect for murder, questioned and held for 48 hours," she told the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Friday.
"I was unable to contact my family, instead my family had to find out what had just occurred from media coverage on TV.
"I should have had mental and emotional support, but instead I was vilified, rejected, shamed and humiliated."
Her former boyfriend, Brendan Pallant, was charged and then faced two trials accused of the 2019 murder of 24-month-old Jaidyn Gomes-Sebastiao, who was affectionately known as "Mr Snuffles".
The first jury could not reach a verdict, but a second jury found Pallant guilty of murder in July 2023.
He was babysitting Jaidyn and his brother while Ms Saggers was working, on September 2, 2019, when he fatally assaulted the toddler.
The mother returned home and had a sleep before Pallant found Jaidyn's lifeless body and called paramedics.
But Jaidyn could not be saved and he died from severe head injuries.
Pallant faced a pre-sentence hearing via video link from prison on Friday.
Prosecutor Mark Gibson KC asked Justice Jane Dixon to take into account alleged incidents in the days before Jaidyn died, in deciding Pallant's sentence.
Twice before Jaidyn's death, Ms Saggers had returned home from work to find the boy bruised and lying on the floor next to an overturned bookcase, he alleged.
"The crown case was that on those occasions, Mr Pallant had assaulted Jaidyn to the head or to the face and by his conduct made it appear that the bookcases were the cause of the injuries by tipping them onto the floor," Mr Gibson told the court.
"In other words, he orchestrated the situation to explain away the injuries."
Ms Saggers took to the witness stand on Friday to describe the impact of Jaidyn's death on her life.
She spoke directly to Pallant, saying Jaidyn had loved him and "all we wanted was your love and protection".
"We trusted you," Ms Saggers said.
"We haven't just lost the person we loved, we've also lost the years of what we had looked forward to, their milestones - their first day of school, graduating from school, the first love of their life."
She said she was verbally attacked and threatened in the days after the murder, following media coverage and community backlash.
"I feared for my life and could not go out in public on my own, or catch public transport," Ms Saggers said.
The hearing will continue on March 15, when Pallant's defence team will argue their case.
Australian Associated Press
