Shanta Watson, 34, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to 60 months in prison for throwing her three-month-old baby onto the pavement in Washington, DC.
Watson pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree cruelty to children in November 2024, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
According to the government’s evidence, Watson is the biological mother of a son, who was a three-month-old infant in September of 2024. On September 5, 2024, Watson had an argument with her former romantic partner, the father of her infant son.
When he left her apartment, Watson walked after him, holding her baby in her arms and stood outside her apartment complex.
Watson proceeded to walk after her former romantic partner on the sidewalk. When she got to the end of the sidewalk, to the parking lot, Watson yelled at him and intentionally threw her infant son onto the pavement.
Watson then casually picked up the baby, as if nothing had happened, and attempted to walk back to her apartment building. Surveillance footage from the apartment complex captured Watson deliberately throwing her infant son.
As a result of the defendant’s conduct, her infant son was transported to the hospital in the NICU unit. The baby suffered multiple skull fractures, multiple points of bleeding in the brain, swelling to the back of his head, and elevated liver enzymes.
The baby’s injuries were consistent with non-accidental trauma.
