A mother who abandoned her 1-year-old son on Daytona Beach was found guilty on Friday of aggravated child abuse and unlawful desertion of a child, police said.
Shamika Mitchell faces up to 35 years in prison for the crime that happened on Nov. 8, 2023 while she was in Daytona Beach from Detroit, the Daytona Beach Police Department said.
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According to authorities, Mitchell was seen on surveillance video "walking down a beach access staircase with the toddler in her arms just before midnight. Five minutes later, Mitchell comes back from the beach without him."
The boy was found by a woman at Main Street and Ocean Avenue closer to 1 a.m., the police department said.
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"She told Daytona Beach Police that he was in the water on his hands and knees, hands buried in the sand up to his wrists and waves were crashing over his head," authorities said.
NBC affiliate WESH reported last year that Mitchell's teenage son called police that night, concerned about his brother.
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"She sent my little brother somewhere, she said with his dad," he said urgently to the dispatcher. "I keep telling her to show me proof, proof, but she's not showing me proof."
According to court documents, Mitchell said she met with the 1-year-old's father and handed him the baby.
But the teen told the dispatcher the baby's father lives in Detroit, so he was skeptical. Police said she told them the same thing, and confirmed that the toddler's father was in Detroit.
"I'm telling her to tell me proof because I know that he's been having these little episodes lately," the teen told the dispatcher. "So, like, I really think my mom is possessed by demons."
When officers arrived on scene, they said the boy was unresponsive, had an elevated pulse and shallow breathing.
He was transferred to Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and was able to recover.
A Volusia County jury found Mitchell guilty after a three-day trial. Police said she would be sentenced at a later date.
