A 30-year-old woman has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for the 2021 murder of her five-month-old son and subsequent concealment of his body.
Shaylynn Curtis was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Jamus Redd, who ordered her to serve 20 years for the murder charge and an additional three years for abuse of a corpse.
Curtis entered what is known as an Alford plea, which allows a defendant to plea while still maintaining innocence, acknowledging that the prosecution has enough evidence for a conviction.
According to authorities, the child died from complications after ingesting methamphetamine. Following his death, Curtis did not contact emergency services or seek any help; instead, she hid the body in the attic of her home. The police were alerted by friends of Curtis, who were worried about the child’s well-being and requested a welfare check.
Upon arrival, the police found the infant’s body in the attic, approximately 24 hours after his death.
Due to the nature of the charges for a violent felony, Kentucky state law mandates that Curtis must serve a minimum of 85% of her sentence, which equates to at least 19.5 years of incarceration.