Mother Expected to Plead Guilty After Negligent Homicide of 4-Year-Old Son

By Connor Driscoll [former] , Zoe Foringer-Laing [former] - August 2, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A mother charged with allegedly killing her 4-year-old son in a scalding bath is expected to plead guilty next week after accepting a plea offer on Aug. 2 at the Baltimore City Circuit Court.

The woman’s co-defendant is expected to go to trial. 

According to the Baltimore Sun, Shateka and Alicia Lawson allegedly severely burned Alicia’s 4-year-old son on July 23, 2019. Over the following nine days, the couple did not seek medical attention for the boy’s burns, claiming they were worried about losing custody after past problems with Child Protective Services. 

Although the women tried to treat the injuries themselves, the boy died on Aug. 1 in Alicia’s home. Alicia, 27, then reportedly left the body in a trash can 10 miles away.

Two days later, the women reported the boy missing to the police, but Alicia eventually confessed to investigators. 

Shateka, 47, claimed she found out about the boy’s death while talking to detectives.

Both women face two charges of first-degree child abuse that resulted in death, as well as one count each of second-degree murder, first-degree child abuse that caused severe physical injury, second-degree child abuse in custody, neglect of a minor, failure to report a child’s death, and giving a false statement to an officer. 

On July 7, the prosecution offered both defendants a plea of life, suspending all but 30 years, with five years of probation for child abuse that resulted in death. At the time, the pair was still considering the offer.

On Monday, Alicia’s defense attorney, Gregory Fischer, told the court that his client planned to take the offer. The formal plea acceptance is set to occur during reception court on Aug. 9. 

By contrast, Shateka’s defense attorney, Roya Hanna, asked the court to schedule a date for trial. Judge Melissa M. Phinn slated Shateka’s trial for Feb.1, 2022, with Judge Cynthia H. Jones presiding.

A Glen Burnie resident also received a February 2022 trial date on Monday.

Bobie Barncord was offered a plea of life for first-degree murder, 30 years for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and 20 years for conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Under the plea, which Barncord’s defense attorney, Ana Hernandez, rejected, all sentences would run concurrently. 

Judge Phinn slated the trial to begin on Feb. 15, 2022, the day Shateka’s trial is expected to end, with Judge Charles J. Peters presiding.

In addition to the charges in the plea offer, Barncord, 31, is also charged with kidnapping, first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit first-degree arson, false imprisonment, and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment.

According to the opinion in an unsuccessful appeal by Barncord’s co-conspirator, she was the alleged get-away driver in the kidnapping-turned-homicide of Tiffany Jones. 

On Aug. 21, 2018, police were called around 2:30 p.m. to the Family Dollar at 3645 Potee Street, where Jones, 20, had been abducted by a man armed with a gun and knife. Barncord allegedly drove Jones and her alleged co-conspirator Willard Turner to an abandoned house.

The next day, firefighters were called to that location, where they found Jones dead and badly burned. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives found that she had likely been doused by lighter fluid and lit on fire. 

An investigation, aided by the witness testimony of her husband and 7-year-old daughter and video evidence, allowed for the identification and arrest of Barncord and Turner, who has since been convicted.

A plea offer was also rejected in the case of another homicide defendant during Monday’s hearing.

Baltimore resident Corey Jones was offered life, suspending all but 50 years, with five years of supervised probation upon release, for first-degree murder. Jones, 47, also faces four firearm-related charges. 

Jones is accused of shooting a 37-year-old woman on Oct. 20, 2020, on the 1400 block of Mosher Street, according to CBS Baltimore. The victim, Myiesha Marable, died from her injuries almost a week later at University of Maryland’s Shock Trauma unit. 

On Monday, Jones’ defense attorney, Shomari Taylor, rejected the offer on his client’s behalf, and Judge Phinn slated the trial for Sept. 15.

The plea offer was also rejected in the case of a Baltimore resident facing his second trial in connection to a homicide in 2017.

Prosecutors allege that on Aug. 30, 2017, Sean Morris shot Troy Gladney eight times, killing him. The shooting took place around 2 p.m. on the 800 block of N. Woodington Road, according to the Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City.

Prior to his trial in 2018, prosecutors offered Morris, 32, a plea of life, suspending all but 60 years, with five years of probation upon release, for first-degree murder and use of a handgun in a violent crime. 

In addition to the charges in the plea, Morris was charged with reckless endangerment, carrying a handgun, and firearm possession with a felony conviction. 

On June 26, 2018, a jury found Morris guilty on all counts and he was later sentenced to life in prison plus a consecutive 35 years.

However, on July 30, 2020, Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals overturned that conviction on the grounds that the trial court had improperly permitted witnesses to testify as to their fear of coming to court. The appellate court found that testimony to be “unduly prejudicial” to Morris, since it was unclear whether Morris was actually responsible for any witness intimidation. 

During Monday’s hearing, Ryan Palmer, standing in for Morris’s defense attorney, rejected a plea offer identical to the one in 2018, telling the court he was “looking for a trial date.” 

The prosecution and defense agreed upon a trial date of Feb. 1, 2022.

Another homicide case, also being heard on remand, was scheduled for trial early next year.

Baltimore resident Delvonta Morten is allegedly connected to a 2015 homicide in the Langston Hughes community. 

According to a reported opinion, nearby surveillance footage showed a person in a black hoodie approaching Kevin Cannady from behind and shooting him in the back of the neck on the 4900 block of Cordelia Avenue. A handgun was recovered nearby, and several 911 calls confirmed that the gun had been dropped by the person in a black hoodie fleeing the scene. 

Morten was convicted of first-degree murder on Jan. 27, 2017, and sentenced to life in prison.

Morten’s former defense attorneys, Kiran Iyer and Paul DeWolfe, appealed the conviction, arguing that the trial court had abused its discretion in two ways.

It was argued that allowing anonymous 911 calls into evidence without the testimony of the individuals who placed those calls constituted hearsay and was, therefore, improper. The trial court had also barred the defense from questioning the reliability of a novel DNA analysis method. 

The Court of Special Appeals agreed on both counts in a 3-0 decision issued on Sept. 4, 2019. Morten’s conviction was overturned, and the case remanded back to the Circuit Court for trial. 

During Monday’s hearing, Morten’s defense attorney, Amie Stone, rejected a plea offer of life, suspending all but 50 years, with five years of supervised probation for first-degree murder and firearm use in a violent crime.  

Additionally, Morten is charged with second-degree murder, carrying a handgun on his person, and firearm possession with a felony conviction. 

Judge Phinn set the trial to begin on Jan. 13, 2022.