Early Life
Letby was born an only child to John and Susan Letby in Hereford, England, in January 1990.
Those who knew her described her as quiet and reserved and said it was obvious from early on that she would pursue a career as a pediatric nurse.
“She was definitely focused and career-driven from even such a young age, but if there was an opportunity to go out with someone I don’t think she would’ve turned it down because she wanted to settle down and have a husband and children of her own,” her friend, Jade Thomas, told The Times.
After three years in nursing school at the University of Chester, Letby began working at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2011, according to local news outlet the Hereford Times.
The Investigation
An alarming number of unexplained infant deaths and collapses began in 2015, and prosecutors alleged she was present for every single one of the incidents, citing hospital staffing charts. Letby was removed from the neonatal unit in 2016 after a doctor suspected her involvement, and she was transferred to administrative duties within the hospital’s the risk and patient safety office, according to the BBC.
Hospital executives called the police in May 2017, at which point they launched an independent investigation “in relation to a greater number of baby deaths and non-fatal collapses than normally expected during the period of June 2015 and June 2016,” the Cheshire Constabulary stated in a news release.
Fourteen months into the investigation, in July 2018, Letby was arrested on suspicion of murder. She was released a few days later pending further inquiry.
She was released on bail following a second arrest on suspicion of murder and attempted murder charges in June 2019. It wasn’t until her third arrest in November 2020 that the charges stuck.
The Trial and Sentencing
Letby’s whirlwind trial began at Manchester Crown Court in October 2022, during which the 11-person jury heard damning accusations from the prosecution over the course of several months.
Prosecutors alleged Letby’s first known victim was a days-old twin boy, referred to in court as Child A, who died after being injected with air 90 minutes after she came onto shift in June 2015. The next day, prosecutors said she tried to murder his twin sister, Child B, similarly, but the infant survived.
Letby struck the neonatal unit several more times. In August 2015, she switched up her modus operandi and attempted to kill Child F with insulin. The next month, she tried to murder Child G on three separate occasions over just as many weeks by overfeeding her milk and injecting her with air, per Yahoo News U.K.
Letby’s slayings came to a halt in June 2016 when she was removed from her nursing duties after she killed two newborn triplet brothers, Children O and P, with air.
"It was, after all, one of her favorite ways of killing,” Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC alleged to the court during trial, according to the BBC.
Prosecutors also presented evidence of notes scribbled by Letby that they discovered at her home.
“I am a horrible evil person,” “I AM EVIL I DID THIS” and “I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them” were among the phrases found inscribed on sticky notes, per The Guardian.
The defense argued the writings were the product of an “anguished outpouring of a young woman in fear and despair when she realizes the enormity of what is being said about her and this is her way of expressing it in the moment to herself,” the outlet reported. Her attorneys blamed the alleged subpar medical care from other doctors and nurses who were also treating the victims for their deaths.
“I only ever did my best to care for them,” Letby testified, according to The Times.
In August 2023, Letby was convicted in the murders of seven infants and the attempted murders of six others, according to prosecutors. She was handed down 14 life sentences.
In July 2024, following a four-week retrial, she was convicted on an additional count of attempted murder in relation to another victim, Child K, after the jury was previously hung. Letby was punished with an additional life sentence.
Life After Conviction
Letby is spending the rest of her life at HMP Low Newton, an all-female, high-security prison in Durham, England, The Guardian reported.
Notable former inmates include U.K. murderers Rose West and Sharon Carr.
According to its website, the prison has around 340 inmates. Prisoners are housed in single cells or three-person units. Low Newton offers faith services, a library and education and training opportunities.
In January 2026, Cheshire police confirmed the Crown Prosecution Service would not be charging Letby with any further crimes. Prosecutors determined evidence was lacking to bring forth nine additional charges of attempted murder and two charges of murder in connection with nine other babies.
“Today’s announcement does not affect or undermine the convictions of Lucy Letby for multiple murders and attempted murders of premature babies following an extensive investigation and two criminal trials, including one of the longest running murder trials in British criminal history and two unsuccessful appeals,” police said in a statement.
Additionally, the Cheshire Coroner’s Court announced it would be conducting coronial inquests—a formal public hearing into why someone died—into six of the babies that Letby killed, per the BBC.
At the time, their causes of death were listed as “natural” or “unknown,” according to The Telegraph. Families are now requesting the causes be changed to “unlawful killing.”
Letby will be represented by lawyers at the February 2026 hearings. Her attorneys are also requesting the Criminal Cases Review Commission assess whether her case is a potential miscarriage of justice, after the defense claimed they have new medical evidence to exonerate her of the charges, the BBC reported.
Letby continues to maintain her innocence.
