John Jefferson
Inset: Shamika Mitchell (Volusia County Division of Corrections). Background: Daytona Beach, Florida, where Shamika Mitchell abandoned her 1-year-old son (WRAL/YouTube).
A mother from Michigan has learned her fate for abandoning her 1-year-old son on Florida‘s Daytona Beach. The boy’s teenage brother reportedly called the cops on her on the day in question — claiming she was “possessed by demons.”
Shamika Mitchell, 38, was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison for her son’s abandonment. She was found guilty in November 2024 of aggravated child abuse and unlawful desertion of a child.
Florida’s Seventh Judicial Circuit Judge Karen Foxman said Mitchell had been using marijuana, drinking alcohol and possibly using meth while caring for the child, who was in the surf and could have drowned if he had not been rescued, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.
The newspaper reported her public defender saying the defendant struggled through a difficult childhood and had a psychotic episode at the time of the incident.
The case came to light on Nov. 8, 2023. Mitchell was seen on surveillance video walking onto Daytona Beach with her 1-year-old son just before midnight. She returned alone five minutes later.
Her teen son called 911, Law&Crime previously reported.
“She sent my little brother somewhere,” the teen told authorities, according to local NBC affiliate WESH. “She said with his dad. I keep telling her to show me proof, proof, but she’s not showing me proof. … So, like, I really think my mom is possessed by demons.”
“I’m telling her to tell me proof because I know that he’s been having these little episodes lately,” the teen added to the dispatcher.
It is unclear what caused the “episodes,” according to WESH.
A stranger wound up finding Mitchell’s son, and just in the nick of time, police said.
“She told Daytona Beach Police that he was in the water on his hands and knees,” police said in the incident report. “Hands buried in the sand up to his wrists and waves were crashing over his head.”
Authorities reported that the boy was unresponsive and had shallow breathing when found by first responders, in addition to an elevated pulse. He was rushed to Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and later made a full recovery.
WJBK reported in December 2023 that Mitchell’s five children — then ages 1 to 17 — were placed in the foster care system by Florida’s Department of Children and Families after her arrest. Their grandmother, Valerie Mitchell, told the outlet she traveled to the Sunshine State to try and get them out, but was unable to at first.
“I’ve called everybody and I need some help,” Valerie Mitchell said. “My grandsons want to come home.”
On Dec. 19, 2023, the children were sent home with a case manager and placed in Valerie Mitchell’s custody. She said it was a Christmas that she’ll never forget.
“I am so happy, I just don’t know what to do,” Valerie Mitchell told the Detroit Free Press after her grandchildren arrived. “I’m just happy they’re home.”
Chris Perez contributed to this report.
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