Former X-Factor star charged with murder of baby
Mitchell David Callaway, a former X-Factor contestant who appeared alongside Johnny Ruffo in the show’s 2011 season, has been charged with murder for the death of a nine-month-old girl in 2018.
Emergency services had been called out over reports of an unresponsive baby girl in the Central West, and despite the best efforts of medical professionals and transport to Coonabarabran Hospital, she passed away.
Callaway was arrested on June 8 - five years after her death - at a house in Bowraville, New South Wales. That same day, the 37-year-old faced Macksville Local Court, and was refused bail with instruction to attend court again the following week.
The arrest was the culmination of a five year investigation under Strike Force King, after police officials received new information and executed a crime scene warrant at another property - actions which eventually led them to Callaway’s door.
And now, the young girl’s mother has spoken out on social media about his arrest, and the devastating loss of her baby.
“After almost five years to the day, an arrest has finally been made,” she wrote. “All the years of pain, suffering and grief and following my mother’s intuition.
She spoke of how there was still a “long road ahead” in getting justice for her daughter, with court proceedings still to occur, but that it was good to see “the beginning of justice” in the wake of her heartbreak.
“She has been the reason I have continued to fight, live and have made it this far,” she added.
“Not a day goes by that I do not miss you and wish you were here.
“This doesn’t bring you back but it does bring you some peace and the justice you deserve. Forever my little girl. Mummy loves you, xx”.
Additional online tributes - from the time of her passing - described her as a “precious daughter”, and someone who was also an “adored and loved great-granddaughter, granddaughter, niece, and cousin”.
A funeral was held for the girl, where more heartfelt words were shared, and her loved ones came together in a flurry of bright colour to “celebrate the first birthday she never got to have.”
“She was the definition of perfect,” an obituary for her declared. “She was the happiest, smiliest, cheekiest baby who melted the hearts of everyone that met her.”
Images: NSW Police