An Illinois mother was sentenced last week to 35 years in prison for beating to death her 8-month-old daughter in 2017.
Shanquilla Garvey, 30, pleaded guilty to first degree murder in the death of Cherish Freeman on December 20, 2017.
Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said that Garvey was living at the Bel-Air Motel in Joliet at the time with Cherish and two other children. Cherish was crying and wouldn’t stop, he said, so Garvey threw her into a dresser, picked her up and shook her, then threw her onto the floor.
When she became unresponsive, Garvey called 911, and the baby was rushed to Ascension Saint Joseph Hospital in Joliet and then airlifted to Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn.
Doctors found two skull fractures, bleeding on the brain, and a liver laceration. The baby girl died from blunt force trauma four days later.
“For a mother to beat her own baby to death is incomprehensible,” Glasgow said. “Cherish was taken from this earth simply because Shanquilla Garvey wanted her to stop crying. This precious baby girl’s last experience was one of trauma and suffering, something no prison sentence can ever undo.”
Garvey cannot be paroled, although she will receive 2,377 days for time served and then have three years supervised release after her term is over.
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[Featured image: Shanquilla Garvey/Will County State’s Attorney’s Office]
