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By
Andrew Michaels
, Alyssia Davis [former] - March 23, 2023
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Juveniles
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Suspects
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Victims
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The case of a 26-year-old mother accused of her infant son’s death faced yet another postponement on March 22 as counsel continues to prepare for trial.
Shakira Shaw was initially scheduled to begin her jury trial two days earlier but had her case postponed after being assigned new defense counsel. When the prosecutor and defense attorneys Janine Meckler and Stephanie Salter returned to Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn’s reception court on Wednesday, the prosecutor requested to postpone the hearing to March 30 to finalize the availability of two of her expert witnesses, who would also need time to review the case.
Judge Phinn commented that it was “not smart” to set a trial date before knowing the witnesses’ availability but agreed to the postponement.
Earlier in the proceeding, Shaw and her attorneys rejected a plea of life, suspending all but 25 years, with five years of supervised probation for first-degree murder. She is also charged with first-degree child abuse resulting in death.
According to CBS News Baltimore, Shaw’s 1-year-old son, Kaleb Shaw, died on Dec. 28, 2019, due to natural causes. However, in August 2020, Shaw contacted the Baltimore Police Department and admitted to suffocating Kaleb, claiming that voices told her to do it.
Shaw was initially found incompetent to stand trial, but was later deemed competent in November 2021.