INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) -- A 36-year-old Indianapolis woman has been sentenced to 47 years in prison for pushing her 2-year-old boy down stairs, leading to his death, says information from online court documents and the Marion County Prosecutor's Office.
Shaylonda Duncan's action caused the death of Marquis Duncan. a jury ruled in April, finding her guilty of five felonies.
One of the woman's surviving children, who testified in the trial, disclosed that Shaylonda had pushed Marquis down the stairs.
Criminal charges stemmed from an investigation into the September 2023 death of Marquis, which also revealed that her surviving children had suffered physical abuse.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department began its investigation on Sept. 20, 2023, after the boy was taken to a hospital from his home on Bunker Hill Drive. Shaylonda told an investigator that she found her son unresponsive at the bottom of the stairs.
Physicians at the hospital expressed concerns for nonaccidental trauma and neglect because Shaylonda did not provide a plausible explanation for her son's injuries. Doctors determined Marquis suffered a significant traumatic brain injury, a skull fracture, and a subdural hematoma. A nurse said the severity of the injuries was not typical of a fall down stairs and that the child also had healing bruises, indicating a pattern of abuse.
