A Tennessee woman was sentenced to life in prison after she pleaded no contest to murder and child abuse charges in the death of her boyfriend’s 5-year-old son.
Turner Simpkins was found dead in his home in Chapmansboro in July 2023, The Tennessean reported. An autopsy found bruises, cuts on his body, and bite marks on his hands. Emergency responders found the boy cold to the touch, lifeless and limp, with a body temperature of 86 degrees.
Shannon Leigh Elliott told investigators that he had been alive and alert an hour before medics came to the scene.
Elliott explained away the boy’s injuries in multiple ways: He got a black eye when he’d fallen at her workplace and leg scratches from riding his bicycle, she said, and on another occasion unbuckled his car seat, opened the car door, and fell out while the vehicle was going 25 miles per hour. He told her he wasn’t hurt, she said.
Elliott was indicted in March and entered the no contest plea on July 30.
Investigators said the child suffered chronic blunt force injuries and malnourishment, according to Smokey Barn News. They told Judge David D. Wolfe in court that the boy’s stomach was distended and purple, that his face was covered in bruises, and he had cuts on the hands, legs, and arms. He was also bleeding internally.
Prosecutors said they had found video surveillance from Elliott’s employer showing her interacting with the boy over about 79 days. On at least 40 of those days, she was seen abusing the boy. Investigators from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation described the video, saying they saw Elliot slap, punch, kick, bite, and strangle the boy.
The medical examiner determined the cause of death to be multiple acute blunt-force trauma injuries and malnutrition.
In addition to the life sentence on the murder charge, Elliott was sentenced to two 20-year sentences on the two counts of aggravated child abuse involving torture. The sentences are to be served concurrently with the life sentence, and she is not eligible for parole for 51 years.
“Based on what I’ve heard today, it’s unlikely in my opinion that you are ever going to see the outside based on what happened to this child,” Wolfe told the defendant. “I’ve sentenced people to life in prison in other, more serious situations, in the form of a death penalty case that I’ve had. I’ve never heard a more horrific statement of facts in my entire life. Nor have I heard anything that I can imagine what this child went through, so I’m sentencing you to life in prison. It’s my hope that you will serve that for the rest of your life.”
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[Featured image: Shannon Leigh Elliott/Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office and Turner Simpkins/Facebook]
