On Monday, a Baltimore daycare owner accused of shooting her retired police officer husband over allegations he had sexually abused children at her center pleaded guilty to assault and gun charges, multiple outlets report.
Shanteari Weems, 50, faced multiple charges related to the July 21 shooting, which her husband, James Weems, Jr., survived. The incident occurred at the luxury Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Court documents previously obtained by WMAR stated that Shanteari and James, 57, were in a hotel room when she confronted him about sexual abuse allegations made against him by the parents of three children who attended her Lil’ Kidz Kastle Daycare Center in Owings Mills, Md.
James, who retired from the Baltimore police force in 2005, worked at the daycare as a bus driver for two years.
Tony Garcia, Shanteari Weems’s attorney, claimed she shot him in self-defense when he advanced toward her in a threatening manner during the argument. (James was staying at the hotel overnight while working at a convention.)
After the altercation, two guns were recovered from the room, along with a notebook. The notebook allegedly contained a makeshift will and Shanteari’s written plans to shoot James. However, she reportedly wrote that she wanted to “paralyze” him, not kill him.
“She thought that she was not going to survive that evening. So she wrote a note,” Shanteari’s lawyer, Tony Garcia, told WBalTV11. “In that note, she wrote that she had no intention of killing him at all, but she did have an intent to stop him from molesting more children.”
At Monday’s hearing, assistant U.S. Attorney LaVater Massie-Banks said Shanteari was very intentional during the violent incident, choosing to shoot James in the neck. “…When he collapsed to his hotel room floor, she walked over and shot him in the leg, shattering his femur,” The Washington Post reports.
The prosecutor said James required surgery and needed help walking as he recovered.
Just days after the July shooting, a warrant was issued for James’ arrest. He now faces over 30 counts of child sexual abuse and assault charges related to at least four alleged victims, according to court files reviewed by The Washington Post. He is reportedly being held without bond until he goes on trial in May.
Shanteari pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and carrying a pistol without a license. She could face up to two years in prison.
“We are not asking anyone to feel sorry for her, but we are asking people to have empathy for her,” Garcia said of his client, per the Post. She will remain in jail until she is sentenced.
PEOPLE was not immediately able to reach Garcia or James Weems’ attorney. It was not immediately clear if James has entered a plea to the charges against him.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
