A 36-year-old woman from Missouri was arrested in Florida this week after she allegedly strangled her 8-year-old son to death in the backseat of her car, then — while the boy’s lifeless body was still in the vehicle — she drove around to various locations running errands. Shaneka Ann McKinzie was taken into custody on Tuesday and later charged with one count of first-degree domestic violence murder in the slaying of young Jaisyn Burgos, authorities announced.
According to an arrest report obtained by Law&Crime, officers with the Miami-Dade Police Department on Tuesday responded to Hialeah Hospital after McKinzie allegedly showed up at the facility with her son’s lifeless body. A subsequent autopsy performed by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the boy’s manner of death was a homicide and the cause of death was asphyxiation.
Shaneka Ann McKinzie (Miami-Dade Corrections)
Officers transported McKinzie to the department’s Homicide Bureau where she was read her Miranda rights and then agreed to give a taped confession, police wrote. McKinzie allegedly told investigators that she had been “planning to kill the victim and thinking of doing it for the past two days” before she finally decided to go through with the horrific killing.
“While the victim was asleep in the rear passenger seat, [McKinzie] utilized a black tablecloth to suffocate and strangle the victim,” the document states. “Moments later, when the victim stopped struggling and was rendered unconscious, the defendant released the table cloth. Next, the defendant proceeded to conduct several errands throughout Miami-Dade County.”
Several hours after she allegedly killed her son, McKinzie said she “drove the victim to Hialeah Hospital” where she was arrested.
“It’s very difficult to wrap your head around how a parent could not only plan to murder their child but then after carrying out this murder go on about their day as if nothing happened,” Miami-Dade Police Det. Andre Martin said in a statement about McKinzie’s case, broadcasted by Miami NBC affiliate WTVJ. “To drive around with their child’s lifeless body and complete various errands as if nothing ever happened. It’s unimaginable.”
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Det. Martin did not speculate as to a possible motive for the alleged filicide.
“Our detectives are still investigating and trying to determine a possible motive, that’s something we all ask ourselves in a crime this heinous,” he said. “As a parent, as an investigator, this is the last case that anyone wants to hear of. The murder of a child in any situation is a tragic thing to deal with.”
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy S. Glazer, who oversaw McKinzie’s first court appearance, shared a similar sentiment.
“I believe in the arrest affidavit there is probable cause for the charge of first-degree murder. Ms. Mckinzie confessed,” Judge Glazer said in courtroom footage provided by Miami Fox affiliate WSVN. “She killed her child, so I’m holding her with no bond.”
McKinzie is currently being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Orlando NBC affiliate WESH reported that McKinzie was homeless and had been staying in various motels in the Miami area for the last couple of months since moving from Missouri. The victim’s father died in an accident when his son was about a year old, WTVJ reported.
Authorities are urging anyone with relevant information about the case to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
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