THE FUNERAL of murdered Fermanagh toddler Millie Martin will take place this afternoon near her grandparents’ home at Ardess, outside Enniskillen.
The 15-month-old girl died in a Belfast hospital last Friday after an assault which left her critically injured.
Police are also investigating evidence that she had been sexually assaulted.
Barry McCarney (30), her mother Rachel’s partner, has appeared in court charged with the murder. Originally from Irvinestown, Co Fermanagh, and understood to have lived also at Glebe Park in the Chanterhill area of Enniskillen, he is in custody pending a further hearing on January 11th. He denies the charge.
Rachel Martin and her mother Margaret, speaking to their local newspaper the Impartial Reporter, denied media claims that Millie had been known to social services.
The family said the child was visited only by health workers, as was normal procedure. The Western Health and Social Care Trust said it was helping police with inquiries.
In the interview, Rachel Martin told reporter Rodney Edwards how her baby girl died at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, where she had been on a life-support machine.
“I kissed and cuddled her, holding her in my arms. She was my perfect princess with a lovely smile and beautiful big eyes, and she should still be here.
“I feel sick that she’s gone,” she added. “I can’t believe she’s not here any more . . . I love her so, so much. I want her back so much.”
She also recounted some of the events which preceded Millie’s death.
“I nipped just down the road to the Chanterhill shop around 8.30pm, just for a few messages. I was literally minutes away and when I got back, there was nobody in the house. The house was empty and I lifted my phone up to see that I had a missed call. I got a phone call telling me to get to the Erne hospital quick – Millie wasn’t well. I was in hysterics. I don’t know how I was able to drive up to the hospital,” she said.
“Whenever I got to the hospital Millie was being worked at . . . She was so poorly, she was on a life support machine because she wasn’t able to breathe for herself. She wasn’t able to do anything for herself.
“The machine was keeping her alive. Her injuries were horrific. We were told it could have been meningitis – they weren’t ruling out anything. That’s what we were going along thinking – that it was something like an infection.
“The doctors kept doing tests and tests, we hoped so much that she’d wake up. They tried to see if there was any life left in her but there wasn’t. They let me nurse her before they turned off the life-support machine.”