What did Shantavia Hayden do? Macomb County mom sentenced to 27 years in prison over son’s death

On Wednesday, November 23, 2022, the Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens sentenced 29-year-old Shantavia Hayden to a minimum of 27 years after she was found guilty of her son’s death.

Despite having money and food, Hayden starved her 7-week-old child to death. According to officials, Shantavia Hayden had brought her son, A’Mir Griffin, to the emergency room, where the doctors discovered that he had already died hours back.

The doctors also found out that A’Mir was extremely malnourished and had turned “cold and blue.”

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Shantavia Hayden starved her 7-week-old child despite having food and money

Shantavia Hayden during her murder trial (Image via MACOMB DAILY)

The case began on October 11, 2020, at 5:26 am when Shantavia Hayden brought her 7-week-old son to the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit. Medical professionals tried to save A’Mir Griffin, but all efforts went in vain when he did not respond.

The doctors pronounced the infant dead at about 5:39 am. A testimony given by the physician Dr. Jennifer Noble during the trial (reported by Macomb Daily) stated:

“The child was very malnourished. The bones are very prominent. The skin is draping around the bones because there is no fat left. The fat has been used.”

She also told the jurors that rigor mortis was already starting as soon as Hayden brought A’Mir to the emergency ward. Hence, the baby had likely died several hours before he was brought in.

Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office issued an autopsy report that determined the cause of death to be malnutrition.

On October 23, 2022, police took Hayden into custody, where she was charged with killing her infant. Her bond was set at $1 million, and she has been in detention since then. Shantavia Hayden was also asked to plead guilty, which she denied.

She said,

“I’m not taking no plea, so y’all can stop coming at me with a plea deal because I’m not accepting it. I’m not pleading guilty to no murder because I did not harm my child.”

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A’Mir’s stomach was completely empty when Hayden brought him to the Emergency Room

Katy Isles, an ER nurse, reportedly said,

“The baby was emaciated, sunken cheeks, you could see all of his ribs, his eye sockets were sunken in.”

The doctors also found that the infant’s stomach was empty, and he likely had not eaten for a week.

During the investigation, Hayden mentioned that she had three more children apart from A’Mir, living at her sister’s place in Detroit. According to her, she decided to rent a room at Red Roof Inn for two nights to let her sister rest.

Officials said that Shantavia Hayden used to receive cans of food from WIC. She also received $15,000 as her jobless benefit every four months from the state.

Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said:

“It’s despicable that a mother would starve her child to death. Justice was served today for little A’mir.”

Hayden was convicted on a charge of second-degree murder. She was sentenced to 27.5-50 years behind bars.