A former Kenyan refugee has been committed to stand trial in Brisbane for the alleged murder of his three-year-old son.

April 9, 2019

The father of a little boy, who died on his bedroom floor in Brisbane as paramedics fought in vain to save him, will be tried for his son’s murder.

Refugee and former Kenyan presidential candidate Quincy Timberlake, 38, has faced a committal hearing in Brisbane, accused of killing his son, Sinclair, in 2014.

Paramedics found three-year-old Sinclair on the floor when they arrived at the Timberlake family’s home in Kallangur early on June 18.

Timberlake was “extremely” composed as he directed the officers into his son’s room, paramedic Jennifer Pearce told Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

“I was just surprised how calm he was. He didn’t speak fast, he wasn’t rushed in his thoughts.”

As they checked the boy for signs of life, Ms Pearce and her partner David Wherry spotted dry vomit on a pillow and around the boy’s mouth.

Timberlake said his son had fallen down the stairs.

The two paramedics performed CPR for about 25 minutes but were unable to revive him.

At the hearing on Monday, a friend of the family, Christina Carroll told the court she had noticed “straight line cuts” on Sinclair’s forehead months earlier.

“To me it looked like he’d been cut with a razor or a knife,” she said.

“It was discoloured like it’d been healed.”

The boy’s mother, Esther , told her Sinclair had fallen down the stairs.

But Ms Carroll said her 25 years’ experience as a medical secretary led her to believe the wounds had been inflicted.

Gertrude Marutawana told the court on Monday she’d observed “quite a number” of criss-cross scars on Sinclair’s back during a visit to the Timberlake home.

Ms Marutawana said Esther told her she had been accused of being a witch in Kenya and as punishment they had beaten her son.

On Tuesday, Timberlake was committed to stand trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court for the boy’s murder.

In 2010, Timberlake announced he would run for the Kenyan presidency under a political party called PlaCenta Party (Platinum Centraliser and Unionist Party) of Kenya.

According to foreign media sources, Timberlake formed the party with his wife, a former lawyer and TV news anchor in Kenya, and saxophonist Joseph Hellon.

But his political plans went awry when he was reportedly arrested in Kenya for his alleged involvement with an illegal sect known as the Finger of God church.

These charges were reportedly dropped after Timberlake fled Kenya for Dubai before claiming asylum in Australia.