Background: The Story County Justice Center in Nevada, Iowa (Google Maps). Inset: Sheyenne Shore (Story County Sheriff”s Office).
An Iowa woman who claimed that she did not know how her infant was fatally injured has been found guilty of the baby’s murder.
Sheyenne Shore, 26, was found guilty of first-degree murder and child endangerment in connection with the 2023 death of her 7-month-old baby Xena. Shore was charged along with Xena’s father, 37-year-old Juan Montalvo Jr., who pleaded guilty to child endangerment in February 2025. According to a criminal complaint obtained by local news outlet Ames Tribune, Shore brought Xena to Story County Medical Center on June 11, 2023, where medical staff said the baby was already cold and stiff, her pupils “dilated and fixed.”
Xena was pronounced dead after lifesaving measures failed.
According to the complaint, Xena arrived at the hospital with cuts and bruises on her face and torso, a broken wrist, and hemorrhaging in her right eye and liver. Medical staff also noted that the baby was healing from past fractures to both of her arms and her femur.
When police spoke to Shore about how Xena got her injuries, Shore told them that the baby “hit her head on baby toys while doing tummy time.” Montalvo told the same story. Both parents denied knowing how the infant received her other injuries.
The medical examiner determined that Xena’s head injuries were not the result of an accident and ruled her death a homicide. Investigators searched the couple’s apartment in Nevada, Iowa, and found bloodstained blankets and baby clothes.
Police said Shore told them that she had not left Xena alone or with anyone else during the last three days of her life, but surveillance video and store receipts proved that Shore left her apartment without Xena to go shopping on June 11, 2023, around 11 a.m. Montalvo was in another part of Nevada that day.
According to the complaint, Shore texted Montalvo several times starting at 3:10 p.m., telling him that Xena was unresponsive and she was taking her to the hospital. He did not respond until 3:46 p.m., and the couple had a short phone call. At 3:59 p.m., Shore texted Montalvo, “she’s gone they tried everything they could.”
An acquaintance of Montalvo said he texted to say he was going to the hospital because his daughter hit her head. Around 6 p.m., Montalvo told the acquaintance that he would be back at work by 7 p.m.
Shore and Montalvo fled to California after Xena’s death and were arrested after being charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment.
Montalvo pleaded guilty to an amended count of child endangerment causing serious injury on Feb. 25, 2025, and was sentenced to an indeterminate sentence not exceeding 10 years in prison.
Shore was found guilty of first-degree murder and child endangerment on April 2. Her sentencing is scheduled for June 1.
