Mother accused of letting her son drown receives mental evaluation
Gloria Gómez reports
TAMPA, Florida. – she was a tampa mother Shakayla Denson crazy at the time you let your 4 year old daughter drown in the Hillsborough River? The court has appointed doctors to settle it, but one medical evaluation now it is under the scrutiny of the defense.
In 2018, witnesses told investigators they saw Denson drag her 4-year-old daughter, Je’hyrah Daniels, into the river. Je’hyra, who had autism and was not verbal according to his mother, drowned.
His body was found about 30 minutes after witnesses called 911. Denson was found walking nearby. She has been charged with murder in the first degree.
Three years later, Denson’s public defenders are mounting an insanity defense, arguing that Denson didn’t know right from wrong when his daughter drowned. They will ask a jury to find her not guilty on grounds of insanity.
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She sang a lullaby after throwing her daughter into the Hillsborough River and claimed someone cast a “spell” on her apartment, according to witnesses at a bond hearing for Shakyala Denson.
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Prosecutors have a doctor lined up to evaluate Denson, but in a recent filing, they asked the judge to allow two other doctors, who are currently training in forensic psychiatry, to observe.
“This is not going to be a situation where all three of them ask her questions,” explained prosecutor Jennifer Johnson.
Shakayla Denson with her daughter, Je’hyra (left); Witness photo allegedly of Denson after her daughter drowned (R)
Denson’s public defenders, Jamie Kane and Jennifer Spradley, objected, saying their client’s case is not a classroom.
“This is a case where Ms. Denson is accused of drowning her autistic daughter and it is not a teaching tool for the state expert,” Spradley argued.
Report: mother upsets her daughter for disability
A 17-page report provides insight into Denson’s state of mind, painting a different picture of the mother who police say threw her young son into a river to drown him.
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Kane said having three doctors in the evaluation, rather than one, can affect Denson’s behavior.
“It would potentially affect the validity of the evaluation by affecting [Denson], psychologically, “Kane explained.
Tampa Judge Kimberly Fernandez agreed.
“I will deny [the prosecution’s] movement. I don’t see that this, as a case, is appropriate to be a teaching tool. It can be intimidating. I think it could affect both the validity and the evaluation itself ”, he declared.
Denson’s next court date is in February.
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