The killer of Ali Jayden Doyle can be heard trying to blame the two-year-old’s death on her younger brother in a chilling 999 call.
Darryn Armstrong (35) phoned an ambulance moments after the toddler suffered a catastrophic head injury in his Dungannon home on August 6, 2021.
An audio recording was released by the PSNI after Armstrong’s sentencing.
A judge told him he must spend at least 20 years behind bars before ever being considered for parole.
In the call, the dispatcher can be heard asking for precise details of what happened.
Shameless Armstrong says “the child was playing on the infant, her brother, in the living room and her brother has hit her with a shaker thing, a wee shaker toy, and her head has actually hit off the fireplace”.
When the dispatcher asks for the casualty’s age, Armstrong replies “she’s two – and the lump on the back of her head is severely big.
“It is a big, big massive lump,” he emphasises.
After confirming the toddler was not awake, Armstrong is asked to establish if Ali is breathing.
“Hold on till I hear,” he tells the operator.
“Yes, she’s breathing but it’s like a foamy breath.”
Asked if there is any serious bleeding, Armstrong said “no, there’s no bleeding at all”.
“There’s just a big bump on the back of the head,” he can be heard repeating.
Darryn John Armstrong sat with his head in his hands as he was sentenced for killing two-year-old Ali Jayden Doyle
Armstrong is then reassured that help is on the way and instructed to stay on the line for further instructions.
It would later transpire that it was Armstrong himself who inflicted the fatal wound.
Ali’s mother Jade Dempsey (28) was given a three-year probation order having admitted a charge of wilful neglect of her daughter at the same hearing in Belfast Crown Court on Thursday.