Crime & Safety

Mom Starved Her 2-Month-Old Son To Death In 2014: Prosecutors

Shawnquail Minnis, 22, was charged with first-degree murder in the boy's death. She is being held on $2 million bail.

CHICAGO, IL — The mom of a 2-month-old boy who lost nearly 4 pounds after his birth is being held on $2 million bail after prosecutors accused her of starving her son to death in 2014, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Shawnquail Minnis — a 22-year-old Chicago mother of two who is currently seven months pregnant — was charged Sunday with first-degree murder in connection with the November 2014 death of her son, Jashawn McBride, the report stated. Prosecutors did not explain the reason for the more-than-two-year delay before filing charges in the case, the report added.

Jashawn was born Sept. 13, 2014, and weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces, the report stated. At the time of his death two months later, he weighed 4 pounds, 13 ounces, and prosecutors say his rib cage and the bones in his face could be seen through his skin, the report added.

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Jashawn's death was ruled a neglect homicide and the cause of death was determined to be starvation, the report stated.

But Minnis' relatives dispute the claim that Jashawn was in an emaciated condition before his death. They also don't believe Minnis is a killer.

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"It doesn't make any sense," Tyrone Jordan, Minnis' uncle, told the Tribune. "She is not a murderer. She might have been neglectful. … She doesn't know how to raise a child. She was a baby raising a baby, but my niece is not a murderer."

Minnis' next court date is Tuesday.

More via the Chicago Tribune


Shawnquail Minnis, 22 (photo via Cook County Sheriff's Office)

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