Background: News footage of Jaimann Eiland in court on Aug. 26 (WITI). Inset: Shakira Walters (Milwaukee County Sheriff”s Office).
A Wisconsin man who faced charges for allegedly throwing a 1-year-old girl from a second-floor balcony had his case dismissed. Now the woman who accused him — his stepdaughter — faces charges of her own.
Jaimann Eiland, 32, was charged with substantial battery with a domestic abuse modifier and child abuse in March after he was accused of “intentionally throwing” a 1-year-old girl off a balcony. As Law&Crime previously reported, Eiland reportedly told police that he and the girl’s mother, 25-year-old Shakira Walters, got into a “tug-of-war” with the little girl that led to her falling off the balcony. Walters had told police that Eiland, her mother’s ex-husband, allegedly dangled the girl off the balcony before dropping her onto the lawn.
But according to Eiland’s defense attorney, Walters’ account of what happened that day unraveled when other family members disputed her version of events.
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Local Fox affiliate WITI was in the courtroom on Tuesday when prosecutors dismissed the child abuse charge against Eiland. Assistant District Attorney Thomas Hasle reportedly told the court that the dismissal stemmed from “evidentiary limitations” as well as questions about Walters’ credibility. “While [Walters] alleges the defendant intentionally threw the baby off the porch, multiple other witnesses, including her own family members, present a contradiction to her account,” he said.
Also cited as an element of doubt about Walters’ alleged trustworthiness when it came to her accusations of child abuse: the two counts of child abuse that she now faces. Walters was accused of abusing her two younger brothers in April and was arrested. According to a criminal complaint obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Walters allegedly admitted to police that she struck her two younger brothers, ages 8 and 10, with a belt.
Police said Walters told them, “I came in and whooped his butt,” and, “I use the belt for them. It ain’t like, I mean, I picked up a broom stick or something.”
Walters was charged with two counts of child abuse to intentionally cause harm. She was released on a signature bond and is scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial hearing on Dec. 5.
Eiland pleaded guilty to two lesser, misdemeanor charges — two counts of misdemeanor battery and one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to 18 months’ probation with credit for 159 days already served.
