Inset: Shyanna Brothers (Milwaukee County). Background: The building where Shyanna Brothers allegedly lived and hid her daughter’s body in Milwaukee, Wis. (Google Maps).
A Wisconsin woman was allegedly found living with her dead 10-month-old daughter decomposing inside of a cardboard box within her home, telling cops “I had no control over how she died” — and that she was allegedly “forced to hurt my kid and hide the body,” according to court documents.
Shyanna Brothers, 28, is charged with hiding the corpse of a child in connection to the disturbing discovery made by cops last week in her Milwaukee apartment, according to her criminal complaint, which was obtained by Law&Crime on Monday. Police were called to the residence by a person who reported an odor outside of it that “smelled as if someone was dead inside,” the complaint says.
“Initially, the defendant claimed that there was old food inside her apartment,” according to cops. “Officer Wright informed the defendant that the defendant was reported saying to others that her baby was gone. The defendant responded, ‘Yeah people lose kids. I lost a child.’ The defendant claimed that she was saying ‘the baby is gone’ because the defendant was going through a lot.”
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Police asked if they could search the apartment, and Brothers allegedly complied. Once inside she began talking about how a man she was in a “domestic violence relationship” with had killed the child and “has me hiding her in there” — pointing to a locked bedroom door, according to the complaint.
“Officer Wright could detect a strong odor of decomposition coming from inside the locked room,” the complaint says. “Officer Wright forced the bedroom door open, observing the room to be empty except for a large cardboard box in the center of the floor. The floor was covered with hundreds of dead flies. Inside of the cardboard box Officer Wright personally observed the body of a deceased infant child in an advanced state of decomposition.”
An autopsy later revealed that the baby suffered a skull fracture consistent with blunt force trauma, per police. Brothers allegedly told officers at the scene that “he” — her alleged boyfriend — killed the child and then threatened to hurt her too if she called the authorities.
“The Defendant said ‘the skull’ and then made a throwing motion as if someone threw the baby,” the complaint says. Police, however, were allegedly unable to find any evidence of a male being present or living at the residence.
“There was no furniture inside the apartment,” the complaint notes. “Inside a bedroom located to the east of the kitchen there was an air mattress and a television. In the bedroom located north of the bathroom, there was a large cardboard box that contained the body.”
Police say the child was in an “advanced state of decomposition and was beyond recognition,” per the complaint. “Bodily fluids from [the child’s] body were soaking the bottom of the cardboard box,” the document says.
Brothers was taken into custody and questioned by detectives, with her alleged statements becoming stranger and stranger as the interview went on.
“I was told I wasn’t in trouble,” she allegedly claimed. “I had no control over how she died.”
Describing what happened, the complaint says Brothers claimed she was “raped in there and forced to hurt my kid and hide the body.” She alleged that people were going “in and out” of her apartment “raping me and stealing from me,” the complaint adds.
“He’s going to prison for this, he thinks he is a genius,” Brothers told detectives. “It may look like it’s me, but I’m going to get exonerated.”
Brothers covered her mouth repeatedly throughout her police interview “as if she was attempting to prevent any further talking,” according to the complaint.
“Oh God, we f—ed up today” she allegedly said at one point. “And then [Brothers] made repeated barking noises,” the complaint adds.
Brothers allegedly addressed the detectives directly, stating, “She’s not even comprehending, they already know, you guys already know I did not kill my child,” according to police. “What I’m saying and what you are doing is helping me plead insane you dumb b—,” she allegedly opined. “You might as well send me the f— back upstairs.”
Brothers was being held this week on a $50,000 bond and is awaiting the results of a mental health evaluation. The report is due next month.
