Stepfather sentenced 12 years in jail for burning a six-year-old

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Robert Smith, 34, has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for letting her six-year-old stepdaughter die in cold-blood. Kiesha Weippeart succumbed to her injuries while Smith stood still, failing to call for help. On July 13, 2010, Smith stuffed his stepdaughter’s body in a suitcase and left it hidden for a week. Later, along with an accomplice, he burned the suitcase in the nearby suburb of Shalvey.

“These were not spontaneous, ill-considered acts carried out in panic… This helpless and vulnerable child depended for survival as much on the person who stood by and did nothing as upon the person who assaulted her,” Judge Megan Latham said.

According to the authorities, the exact cause of death remains unknown; however, the postmortem report suggests that she had sustained a violent blow to the head. She also had a number of partially healed fractures. Smith had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the girl.

“The loss of consciousness in a six-year-old would move all but the most callous of adults to seek medical attention, let alone someone who claimed to see that child as a daughter. The act of burning the body was particularly heinous,” Justice Latham added.

“Smith then assumed the primary role in the destruction and burial of the deceased’s body,” the judge announced.