"Free her until it's backwards": ‘How to help Shanteari Weems' trends as the community comes out in support of imprisoned daycare owner 

In July 2022, Shanteari Weems shot her husband twice after she found out that he was allegedly molesting kids at a daycare she owned in Baltimore. She was later convicted and sentenced to four years in prison. Weems currently stays in the D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility.

Recently, her clip in an inmate uniform and posing for the camera during an interview with WUSA9 inside the prison went viral, making netizens demand her freedom. In fact, the hashtags #FreeHer and #HowToHelpShanteariWeems are now doing the rounds on the internet. Another picture of her dressed in all white, taken earlier this month, has also garnered traction online.

In the wake of the latest development, an X user with the handle @Snow_Blacck asked to “free her” until her husband is also imprisoned while addressing her as her "auntie."

A netizen demands the release of Shanteari Weems from prison. (Image via X/Snow_Blacck)

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“She needs a commendation taking down a predatory man”: Internet unites in support of Shanteari Weems and demands her release from jail

In July 2022, Baltimore daycare owner Shanteari Weems shot her husband James Weems Jr. twice, once in the neck and the other in the thigh, after she learned that he reportedly s*xually abused children at her Lil’ Kidz Kastle Daycare Center in Owing Mills, Maryland.

The incident took place in a hotel room in the luxury hotel Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C., where he was staying back then. Shanteari Weems went to the hotel to confront James after the parents of the children who attended her daycare facility made accusations against him.

Later, she pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and carrying an unlicensed firearm and was sentenced to four years in prison by Superior Court Judge Michael O’ Keefe which surprised everyone, including prosecutors who asked for two years.

In March 2023, she was interviewed by WUSA9, during which she confessed that she “snapped” and was sorry for her actions. Weems added that she would not apologize to her husband unless he “apologizes to those children” and confesses to his crimes.

Now, more than a year after her conviction and over nine months after her WUSA9 interview, a photo of her wearing a white t-shirt, white joggers, black sneakers, and a smartwatch has gone viral online, with her hair cut short and the date December 12, 2023, printed underneath. She is seen smiling and posing for the camera from inside the prison.

A clip from her WUSA9 interview with her dressed in an inmate costume has also resurfaced online. In the wake of this, netizens are demanding her release from prison, with #freeher trending alongside her name. Here are some of the reactions in this regard from the comment section of @Chosenredx’s tweet on the same.

For those uninitiated, a petition on Change.Org has been open since July 2022 to raise awareness about 50-year-old Shanteari Weems’ case and help bring her back home. The petition's goal is 7500 signatures, which has so far received 5406 signatures. A website called justice4shanteari.com was also launched to help her with the legal fees.

Twitteratti is also sharing ways to send Shanteari Weems money and gifts by sharing her inmate number, the postal address of the prison, and other relevant information.

Meanwhile, her daycare facility has been shut down, and her 57-year-old husband is awaiting trial on 30 counts of child molestation and s*xual abuse, as per CBS News. His bail has been denied, and he is currently under level 3 house arrest. James Weems Jr. is a retired Baltimore cop who later worked as a bus driver for his wife’s daycare for two years.