Mother Gets 16 Years In Prison For Not Stopping Beatings: A 31-year-old woman from Texas has been sentenced to more than ten years in prison for her failure to intervene and protect her 2-year-old daughter from physical abuse by her former boyfriend. The tragic incident occurred just two days before the child’s third birthday in 2019 when she was fatally beaten for the simple mistake of putting her shoes on the wrong feet.
According to court records reviewed by Law&Crime, Ashley Marie McAlpine was ordered by a judge in Bell County on June 7 to serve 16 years in a state correctional facility. This sentence takes into account the 903 days she has already spent in custody. McAlpine had previously pleaded guilty in March to one count of first-degree felony injury to a child, related to the death of her daughter, before Judge Wade Faulkner.
In October 2021, after a three-day trial, McAlpine’s former boyfriend, Jadin Nunez, was found guilty of capital murder of a child under the age of 10. He was subsequently given a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.
The incident unfolded on September 22, 2019, when officers from the Temple Police Department and Emergency Medical Services responded to a residence in the 800 block of South 11th Street after receiving a distress call about an unresponsive child at approximately 2:50 a.m. Upon arrival, first-responders discovered the unconscious and non-breathing child, later identified as Shannah Leilani McAlpine. The victim was covered in bruises.
Further investigation by the Temple Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Unit revealed that Nunez had committed the murder out of anger towards the child for wearing her shoes incorrectly.
A previously obtained report from the Texas Department of Family & Protective Services, as reported by the Killeen Daily Herald, provides further details about the tragic incident. According to the report, Ashley Marie McAlpine recounted to investigators that the family was getting ready to go to the store to buy supplies for Shannah’s upcoming birthday party when Jadin Nunez became enraged at the young girl.
The report states, “The girl had her shoes on the wrong feet, and Nunez then hit her on her face. She fell, and Nunez grabbed her and held her up in the air before he punched her three times in her stomach and dropped her to the floor.”
McAlpine informed investigators that she immediately picked up Shannah after Nunez assaulted her. The mother carried the toddler out of the room and placed her in bed. However, Nunez allegedly followed them and proceeded to “choke Shannah with both hands” until she turned blue, according to McAlpine’s account.
McAlpine said she shouted and attempted to intervene to protect Shannah from Nunez’s assault, but her efforts were futile. The Daily Herald reported that the choking continued for a “couple of minutes” before Nunez finally stopped. Shannah reportedly gasped for air and then curled up in the fetal position.
On September 22, 2019, at around 2 a.m., Shannah woke up crying. McAlpine informed the police that the child complained of stomach pain and had difficulty breathing, as reported by Waco-area CBS affiliate KWTX-TV. McAlpine noticed that Shannah’s stomach was swollen and hot, while the rest of her body felt cold to the touch. She placed the girl in the shower but called 911 when she realized Shannah couldn’t stand on her own. Sadly, Shannah was pronounced dead at the hospital at approximately 3:31 a.m.
An autopsy later determined that the cause of the child’s death was blunt force trauma to the abdomen, confirming it as a homicide.
Nunez was apprehended two days after the incident, while McAlpine herself was not charged until December 2020.
Shannah’s obituary indicated that she was supposed to celebrate her third birthday on September 24, 2019.
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