"I think about that child all the time. I think about all the children, all the time," she shared.
Trigger Warning: The following content contains mentions and descriptions of child sexual abuse, sexual harassment, gun violence, and murder, which may be distressing for readers.
Shanteari Weems is speaking out about her choice to shoot her former spouse James Weems Jr. after she found out that he had been sexually abusing children at her daycare facility. James served as a bus driver at the daycare for two years after retiring from the Baltimore police department in 2005. Shanteari felt such shock after hearing the claims about a man supposed to protect her that she "snapped."
Weems, 50, pled guilty to the counts of aggravated assault and having a gun without a permit. The wife was later given a four-year prison term, per PEOPLE.
In a recent interview with WUSA9, Weems claimed that she "snapped." When questioned if she was sorry for her actions, the daycare owner replied that she was, but she wouldn't apologize to her spouse. "I will apologize when he apologizes to those children," she said.
When Shanteari Weems learned her husband was accused of molesting children at the day care she owned, she shot him twice. She’s been sentenced to 4 years in jail
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 10, 2023
“I will apologize when he apologizes to those children,” she saidhttps://t.co/RPm36Q1XV4
pic.twitter.com/LN7vF9tN7s
James was accused by the mother of a kid from her daycare. Shanteari told WUSA9 that she "knew she was not lying" when she saw the "pain in [the mother's] face." She expressed, "I felt like the blood had just drained out of my body because ... it was my husband."
After having her first drink in 20 years, she texted her business partner, saying, "I'm going to kill him and then myself." James, 57, and Shanteari were in a hotel room at the opulent Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C., when she questioned him about claims made against him by the parents of children who attended her Lil' Kidz Kastle Daycare Center in Owings Mills, Maryland.
Thinking of all the women who would have not believed the accusers and taken the side of their husband. Shanteari Weems is a hero. The judge who sentenced her needs to step down. https://t.co/HLrCmWjxfF
— Jo Kaur (@SikhFeminist) March 12, 2023
Despite not being a violent person, Shanteari Weems claims that she lost it when she learned that the man she believed in above all else had reportedly abused children. Shanteari explained, "He was supposed to help me protect these children. He always told me he was my protector. So when I heard this, I just felt like – I just felt like my world had ended." She added, "We were both supposed to be on this crusade of saving children, and child molestation is something that we had talked about all the time, how horrible it was."
Shanteari Weems thought she and her husband were on a joint mission to save children. But when parents at the day care she owned claimed he was molesting their kids, she shot him. For the first time since she was sentenced, Shanteari is sharing what went down, only on @wusa9. pic.twitter.com/9XtDqeSzie
— Laura Wainman (@laurachanning) March 9, 2023
A D.C. court informed Shanteari Weems she had no right to impose her own laws six and a half months later. When she received a four-year sentence from Superior Court Judge Michael O'Keefe, her husband has only been charged with 33 counts and is still awaiting a trial.
#FreeShanteari? A DC judge doubled the sentence for a daycare owner who wounded her husband at a swanky DC hotel. He's been charged with abusing 33 children. TONIGHT ON @WUSA9 at 11. My exclusive jailhouse interview with Shanteari Weems. pic.twitter.com/1dkbXfKfP7
— Bruce Leshan (@BruceLeshan) March 9, 2023
"Despite my surroundings, I'm doing OK," Shanteari Weems said now, in an interview from inside DC's correctional facility. "I have a lot of supporters and people who uplift me and help me survive."
But there is a weight that's still on her shoulders. "I think about that child all the time. I think about all the children, all the time," she shared.
"Prosecutors have charged (her husband) James Weems, a retired police officer, with 33 counts of rape and child sex crimes. He’s awaiting trial, and his lawyer, Thomas Plavanic, is declining to comment to reporters."
— Britni Danielle (@BritniDWrites) March 10, 2023
FREE HER #FreeShanteari https://t.co/5SyHItjtVJ
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Cover Image Source: YouTube | WJZ
