A 30-year-old mother of three in Georgia was arrested last week for allegedly killing her infant son, slitting the child’s throat so he could “be with Jesus and God.” April Evalyn Short, the wife of a U.S. Army staff sergeant, was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with one count of murder with an aggravating circumstance of the alleged crime occurring during an act of child abuse in the slaying of the little boy, whose identity has not been released by authorities, authorities announced.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, Short at about 8:01 a.m. on Nov. 15, 2023, sent her husband a text message that “caused him concern” for the well-being of their youngest child. The messages made references to God saying telling Short that “the days of darkness are upon us,” and that “We [she and her husband] would be together again.”
April Evalyn Short (Jefferson County Detention Center)
The husband was on duty at the Fort Eisenhower Army Installation, which is about 10 miles west of Augusta, Georgia, when he received the messages and immediately went home, prosecutors said. Upon arriving, the husband said Short had barricaded herself in the master bedroom of their home with their three kids leading her husband to call the police. The couple’s two elder children are ages 11 and 6.
Shortly after police arrived, at about 9:05 a.m., Short left the barricaded room with her two elder children then tried to flee the scene in her car but stopped in the street in front of her house when an officer who was “partially in the car” drew his gun on her.
When Short’s husband realized their youngest child was not with Short and the kids, he went back into the master bedroom and “screamed.” Police immediately followed and found the infant in the bathroom of the master bedroom “wrapped in plastic with apparent wounds and bleeding from the neck.” The victim was transported to the Army Medical Center where, at about 9:34 a.m., he was pronounced dead.
The 6-year-old child told investigators that her mom “got two knives” and “was going to help get [the victim] to God and Jesus.” The child said her mother also told her, “don’t come into the bathroom because it might be really scary” before going into the bathroom with the victim and two knives.
When Short came back out, she told the kids that she had “cut” the infant so that he “could be with Jesus and God,” per the affidavit. She also allegedly threatened to “cut” the 6-year-old “if she didn’t stop crying.”
Short also allegedly confessed to killing the victim during an interview with investigators.
“During the interview, Short provided details admitting to barricading the door of the master bedroom in the residence, wrapping [the victim] in a shower curtain in the bathtub in the bathroom connected to the master bedroom and attempted to use a knife to cut [the victim’s] neck,” the affidavit states. “Short stated the first knife did not work because it was dull, so Short used a second knife to cut [the victim’s] neck.”
Police said Short later admitted to knowing that her actions were “wrong” and “evil.”
Short appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps for her initial hearing and has not yet entered a plea in the case.
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