A 36-year-old step-grandmother who beat an 11-month-old baby to death will serve less than a year in jail after she accepted a plea deal in Queens Supreme Court only days before her trial.
Shanica Callaghan was arrested back in 2018 for the 2017 death of her husband Clinton’s grandson Jeremiah, and pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless endangerment, which is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 364 days in jail.
Callaghan was initially charged with second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault, and endangering the welfare of a child.
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However, prosecutors dropped all felony charges against her on October 29 and her sentencing is now set for January 7.
Baby Jeremiah died on September 6, 2017, from severe injuries which included a fractured skull, brain trauma, and spinal cord damage.
Medical examiner Dr. Michael Greenberg revealed that the cause of death was “abusive head trauma” involving “violent, repetitive forces of acceleration and deceleration and significant blunt force trauma being applied to his head and body.”
Greenberg wrote that Jeremiah would not have been in normal health after sustaining such injuries. “Symptoms of vomiting, difficulty breathing, and unresponsiveness would have occurred immediately or almost immediately after the infliction of the injuries.”
Callaghan however denied abusing Jeremiah or using physical discipline and told police that she had developmental delays but no major health issues.
She claimed that the boy began choking as she was bottle-feeding him, and said that it could be the reason for his death.
Nonetheless, the autopsy contradicted her account as Greenberg’s findings included extensive hemorrhaging in Jeremiah’s eyes, a split retina, and no signs of external injury to match up her story.
Callaghan spent six years free on bail and appeared in at least 55 hearings while awaiting trial.
Photos on social media reportedly show her enjoying her time out with friends and family during this time.
Her plea deal spares her deportation to Jamaica, and it aligns with a 2019 New York law that restrains misdemeanor sentences at 364 days to protect non-citizen residents from deportation over minor crimes.
U.S. immigration law allows deportation for “crimes of moral turpitude” should the sentence be at least one year.
Judge Ushir Pandit-Durant could reject the plea deal yet he cannot impose a sentence which exceeds 364 days.
Callaghan’s husband, Clinton, who had sole custody of Jeremiah, has not been charged in the case.
Jeremiah was placed in Clinton’s care by Texas Child Services shortly after birth because of his mother’s struggles with addiction.
The plea agreement has sparked loads of criticism over the leniency of the sentence in a case involving the violent death of a child.
Many believe the baby deserves justice after the actions of the step-grandmother, insisting offenders must be held accountable for their actions, especially when they lead to death.
