LEE COUNTY, Ala. (WRBL) – In a landmark case for east Alabama, a Lee County woman is sentenced to 18-years after a jury convicted her of child endangerment resulting in the child’s death.
“The jury convicted Cherith Shoemaker of chemical endangerment of a child causing death. She was using meth up until the day she gave birth to her baby that subsequently died as a result of her meth usage. The baby had five times more meth in his system than the defendant did,” said Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes.
Hughes says this case is the first of its kind in Lee County and the first-class A felony conviction in the state under this statute.
“The defendant gave birth to the child in a bathtub, wrapped the baby in a towel, and tossed him in the corner, and scrubbed the crime scene clean. Due to the fantastic investigative work by the Auburn Police Division and the prosecution of the case by ADAs Garrett Saucer and Cathey Berardi, the jury took less than an hour to convict the defendant,” said Hughes.
Hughes says this was not an easy case because of the defendant’s efforts to hide the crime and the fact it was a crime never before prosecuted in the jurisdiction.
After her conviction, News 3 reached out to Shoemaker’s attorney Margaret Brown who did not have a comment at the time.