Nineteen-month-old Samuel Harry lived with his mother, Deanna Buffham, in Bromham, Bedfordshire, England. Deanna’s partner, Ryan Bate, also lived in the house; Deanna had split up with Samuel’s father, Nicholas Harry, sometime before.
On the evening of April 20th, 2013, both Deanna and Ryan were home with the toddler. Ryan later claimed that he had found Samuel lying very drowsily with his eyes open, and became so concerned that he called paramedics. By the time they arrived, the child was unconscious, cold, and very pale. One of his eyes was also enlarged, indicating possible hypothermia.
Samuel was rushed to the hospital where a CT scan showed a large subdural hematoma, but no other bodily injuries. Emergency surgery was carried out to relieve the swelling in his brain, but the boy later died of his injury.
The coroner strongly suspected that the child had been deliberately either thrown down or shaken, and police questioned both Deanna and Ryan, certain that one of them was responsible for killing Samuel. Though each of them separately admitted that the toddler’s death was the likely result of violence, both blamed the other party and refused to admit guilt.
Due to this impasse and the lack of solid evidence linking one of them specifically to the crime, the Crown Prosecution Service regretfully declined to press charges against either of them, not confident they would get a conviction.
In 2015, authorities reopened the case, but as of this writing in November 2024, the tragic murder of little Samuel Harry is still unsolved.
Crime Immemorial 