They Got in the Way

Louise Porton, 22, lived in Rugby, Warwickshire, with her two daughters, three-year-old Lexi Draper and 17-month-old Scarlett. In early 2018, much of her attention was on dating apps and the men she met through them.

On January 15, 2018, Lexi died. Forensic experts later found signs that her breathing had been deliberately blocked, and it became clear she had been dead for some time before her mother called for help. In the days that followed, Porton accepted dozens of friend requests on one dating app and chatted with men on another. On February 1, emergency crews called to a parking lot found Scarlett lifeless in her mother’s car; she too had died well before the emergency call. Police later recovered internet searches about breathing, drowning, and how long a person could still be revived.

Porton was charged with both murders and tried at Birmingham Crown Court. On August 1, 2019, the jury unanimously found her guilty of both. The next day she was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 32 years. The judge said she had killed her daughters because they were an obstacle to her sex life, and that she had shown no remorse.