The day after her daughter was allegedly stomped to death by her partner, the dead child's mother was laughing and did not seem upset, a court has heard.
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Police allege the two-year-old, who cannot be named, was stomped on by Mussie Debresay after she urinated on a couch. She died several hours later of severe internal injuries, on May 13, 2005.
Mr Debresay, 37, is on trial in the Victorian Supreme Court, where he has pleaded not guilty to the child's murder or manslaughter. He says the child fell in his living room the night before she died.
Since the child's death Mr Debresay, of Footscray, and the child's mother have gotten engaged.
Sisters Erin King and Samantha Barry regularly babysat for the children. The day after the two-year-old died, they met the child's mother in a cafe, the court heard on Tuesday.
"I was absolutely astounded by the lack of emotion shown. She was on her phone laughing to friends. She did not appear to be upset at all by the death of [her child]," Ms King later told police.
Her sister Ms Barry said: "If I was somebody passing in the street I would not have thought her child had just passed away."
Ms Barry was in Mr Debresay's house on the day the child died.
She told the court she recalls seeing the toddler lying back-down on a coffee table, eyes staring at the ceiling.
She thought the child was tired, and went to move her to a couch, but Mr Debresay cut her off, she said. She said Mr Debresay carried the child to a couch where she lay, limp.
Both sisters testified the child's mother, who cannot be named, was a frustrated and uncaring parent.
Ms King said the mother would often stay out all night without notice, forcing the babysitters to stay over to care for her young family.
Another witness said the mother had little food for the children in the house, which was filthy.
On one occasion Ms King saw the mother shove her daughter hard in the chest - hard enough to knock her off the couch and onto the floor. The child had interrupted her mother on the phone, she said.
Ms King said the mother regularly told one of her children he was stupid, and had him repeat that in front of others.
The mother was obsessed with getting in a relationship, Ms King said. She saw the children as holding her back from that, and resented having them about, Ms King said.
After she met Mr Debresay, she became obsessed with getting in a relationship with him, Ms Barry said. After they got into a relationship, Mr Debresay – known as MJ – spent more time with the kids than their mother did, and seemed to be able to control them better, she said.
Ms Barry, 16 at the time, often felt like she had to advise the mother on how to care for the children.
The trial before Justice Terence Forrest continues.
