Sister brands Tegan McGhee 'an evil monster' after life sentence for killing four-year-old Limerick boy

Shannon McGhee said: 'My sister Tegan is an evil monster, no amount of words can describe how cold and cruel she is.'

Writing on social media, Shannon McGhee said Mason O’Connell Conway (pictured) 'was a beautiful little boy who brought so much joy to our lives, and we mourn him every day.'

The sister of child killer Tegan McGhee has described her as an "evil monster", following her sentence of life in prison on Wednesday.

Tegan McGhee from Limerick was jailed for the murder of her partner’s four-year-old son Mason O’Connell Conway in 2021. She had pleaded not guilty to the child’s murder but changed her plea to guilty after medical evidence was heard at her trial last November.

Mason’s father, John Paul O’Connell, has already been jailed for seven years for assisting an offender, neglect, and endangerment of a child. On Tuesday at her sentence hearing, Shannon McGhee shouted at her sister: "I hope you rot in hell."

Writing on social media, Shannon said: "I wasn’t going to say anything about this, but I refuse to live in someone else’s shame.

"My sister Tegan is an evil monster, no amount of words can describe how cold and cruel she is. She fooled us all for a full year before she was arrested and the truth came out, I couldn’t understand how the person I knew and loved my whole life was someone I didn’t even know.

"I’ve never said anything about this before because they weren’t allowed to be named. Not me or any member of my family knew of the horrific things that happened to Mason, he was kept from his family as well as us."

She said she believed that Mason had fallen from a bunk bed, as claimed by her sister and John Paul O’Connell to gardaí at the time. "When Mason died, we also lost him," she said. 

"He was a beautiful little boy who brought so much joy to our lives, and we mourn him every day," she said.

"Tegan and John Paul not only took Mason's life but ruined everyone else’s along with it. Justice has finally been served although no amount of time can ever compare to the life she stole from Mason.

She said:

To sit in court and watch her not even show a flicker of emotion speaks volumes she is evil. 

"I admire the strength Lizzie (Mason’s mother) has shown and how hard she fought for her son; the nightmare is never really over but at least the long wait for justice is finally over."

She posted an image of Mason smiling at the camera under her post.

The harrowing trial was anonymised until a successful legal challenge was taken to name those involved in the case.

The court heard that Mason was taken to hospital on March 13, 2021, after suffering injuries to his head. His father said he had fallen from a bunk bed.

Medical staff said the child was covered in bruises from head to toe which they said were inflected at different times. His rib was broken, his liver was torn and he suffered a catastrophic brain injury.