Miguel Pirjani was only 13 weeks old when he was murdered by his own parents, but, due to their silence, we will likely never know exactly what happened to him
“In this career, there are jobs that stay with you for a lifetime”, Detective Inspector Holly Chance says in a small conference room tucked beside the entrance to Merseyside Police’s Rose Hill headquarters. “There are certain jobs that remain with you, and this is definitely one.
“This has been the most distressing case that I’ve ever dealt with. Due to the vulnerability of Miguel, the age of him and the significant trauma that he faced at just 13 weeks old, it’s been highly distressing, not just for myself, but for my colleagues and other professionals.
“It’s something that I will never understand, as a parent, how anyone could inflict such harm on their own flesh and blood. Miguel was 13 weeks old. He was a newborn, and he should have just felt love from his parents. But, instead, he was inflicted with pain and trauma. It’s unbearable to think about.”
At just shy of three months old, Miguel Pirjani was at an age where he might have started babbling and cooing, maybe even laughing and giggling, certainly becoming more curious of the world around him. But, horrifically, this was a world which, at such a tender stage in his young life, he had come to know as cruel and violent, neglected of the love of his own parents who, instead, had beaten him and broken his tiny bones.
It is, frankly, unthinkable that anyone could do such a thing to any child, let alone their own flesh and blood while at their most tender and in as vulnerable a state as is possible. Perhaps it is a small mercy that, due to Miguel’s mum and dad Nivalda Santos and Klevi Pirjani never having had the courage to tell the true story of what happened to him, instead seeking to protect their own and one another’s backs, that we will never know exactly what horrors they subjected their infant son to.
But the mind can attempt to fill in the blanks when confronted with the stark facts of what doctors discovered when he was rushed from the couple’s home on Percy Road in Wirral, to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital one lunchtime in November 2024. DI Chance, who led the force’s investigation into Miguel’s murder, says: “At that time, he displayed no visible features that he was injured.
“It was only when he got to the hospital a short time later, when they did the scan, it soon became apparent that, in fact, he had this horrific skull fracture and it was non-accidental. That’s when the case took a turn.
“He had 39 fractures to his ribs, collarbone, leg, arm, and they were dated two to three weeks prior to his death, all at various stages of healing. Then there were subsequently two further fractures, which were caused within 48 hours prior to him falling ill.”
All of this demonstrated a clear, repeated pattern of abuse that had persisted throughout Miguel’s tragically short time on this Earth. And yet, all that has been hinted at was Nivalda’s patchy, plainly incomplete account during her and Klevi’s trial at Liverpool Crown Court, alleging that Klevi had “got angry and lost control” two days after their baby had first been discharged from hospital following his birth, thereafter “banging him on the bed” and kicking him, as well as apparently headbutting him in the early hours before his collapse and a 999 call in which he referred to his son as “it”.
DI Chance recalled of the mother’s evidence from the witness box: “There was a point when Nivalda gave evidence where she did state that she did witness Klevi assault Miguel. But that was in the early hours of the 24th of November, whereas medical experts say that the injury caused, which stopped him breathing or going into cardiac arrest, was done within hours of the call to 999. That is the only explanation that we’ve had, but it doesn’t account for the multiple fractures that have been caused.
“To this day, I’ve not seen any remorse shown by the parents. We’ve seen the injuries, we’ve read about the injuries, but we’re still not clear what went on behind closed doors, who inflicted which injury. No remorse has been shown and [there has been] no explanation, which is difficult.
“As a mum myself, I could not imagine anybody hurting my child. Only Nivalda knows the answer to why she never asked for help or never prevented it from happening.”
The only real hint of any regret shown at any stage came in the form of Nivalda’s words as she was permitted to hold Miguel’s hand while he drew his final breaths after five days in hospital, telling him “I should have protected you”. While this was a relationship in which Klevi’s violent and controlling nature appeared to loom large, such sentiments were far too little, far too late.
Both mother and father were unanimously convicted of their son’s murder by a jury and were yesterday handed life sentences with minimum terms of 15 years and three months and 19 years behind bars respectively. If there is any shred of humanity left within them, the punishment of having what they did remaining on their consciences for the rest of their days should weigh far heavier.
Sentencing, High Court judge Mr Justice Baker told them: “Miguel was 13-and-a-half weeks old when he died, born on the 27th of August 2024. You, Nivalda Santos Pirjani and Klevi Pirjani, were his parents, and you killed him by what must have been an act of appalling violence, intending him to suffer really serious harm. It is possible that you intended to kill him to be rid of him, but I am not sure that was your intention, since you made a prompt 999 call for an ambulance.
“I am sure that the fatal trauma Miguel suffered involved a heavy blow or series of blows to the right side of his head with violent oscillation of his head, pivoting on his neck. Precisely how that was inflicted, I cannot say. Whether there was a single blow to the head, or several blows, I cannot say. Whether Miguel’s head was battered onto a hard, unyielding surface or some hard, blunt object was battered onto the side of his head, I cannot say.
“I cannot even say, for sure, which of you did that to Miguel. I think it more probable that it was you, Klevi, because, as Miguel was passing away in hospital Nivalda said to him, ‘I should have protected you’, and I think that may have been her genuine sentiment.
“I cannot say precisely when and how Miguel was fatally battered, shortly before that 999 call, or even be sure about which of you fatally battered him, because only you two know. You have chosen not to tell anyone, and I can only make findings of fact if I am sure of them from the evidence.
“Therefore, what exactly happened to Miguel that morning remains the guilty secret of a warped relationship in which you came first for each other to an unnatural degree. The interests of Team Klevi Nivalda… you put before those of Miguel, with the most severe consequence possible.
“His death was a battered baby death at both of your hands, since the jury was sure that, whichever of you delivered the violence, it was violence encouraged, intentionally, by the other of you, both of you intending Miguel to suffer at least grievous bodily harm. The fatal assault on the 24th of November 2024 was not a one off incident that came out of the blue for whichever of you did not commit the violence.
“I consider there to be no mitigation available to you, Klevi. There is nothing in your personal circumstances or the circumstances of your offending under count four to lessen the seriousness of that offence in your case.
“I acknowledge the difficult start you had in your own life, with a childhood in Albania affected by armed conflict and the death of your father and young sister in quick succession. However, I do not consider that offers any reason to reduce what would otherwise be the proper sentence for what you did to Miguel in your early 30s, in your settled adult life in Liverpool.
“In your case, Nivalda, there is mitigation. You were of previous good character. You were suffering from post natal depression, and you were isolated and somewhat vulnerable, estranged from your own family.
“I do not accept the further claim made on your behalf, or the evidence that you gave, that you were yourself the victim of domestic abuse by Klevi of violence and controlling behaviour. I am sure you were lying to the jury about that. The only victim here was poor Miguel.
“Finally, you have shown a measure of remorse through your parting words to Miguel and through some of what you said to the jury from the witness box. That remorse is rendered a little shallow by your determination, nonetheless, to fight your trial which extended, I am sure, to significant elements of invention to try to limit your criminal liability.”
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