Anthony Jay Bakare (Precious Memories Mortuary), Sharday Bakare (Shelby County Jail)
A 26-year-old mother from Tennessee accused of killing her 2-year-old son has been captured by federal agents in Texas nearly a year after the little boy was beaten to death.
Sharday Bakare was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with one count each of first-degree murder, aggravated child neglect, and aggravated child abuse in the brutal slaying of young Anthony Jay Bakare, authorities announced.
Bakare's boyfriend at the time, Anthony Drake Andrews, was indicted in May on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. Records show that he is currently incarcerated in the Shelby County Jail on bond of $250,000.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the Memphis Police and Fire Departments at about 5:49 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2023, responded to a call about an unresponsive 2-year-old at a home located in the 2600 block of Margot Street. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they located the boy — later identified as Anthony Bakare — not breathing and "bleeding from the mouth with bruising on the abdomen, sides, and back, as well as a long bruise on the right side of the face that went from the forehead area to the lower jaw."
Emergency medical personnel performed CPR on the boy and transported him to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Back at the home, investigators spoke with Bakare and Andrews about how the boy suffered his injuries. Bakare told police that she last saw her son at about 11:15 p.m. the previous evening and that the boy was in "good health." At that time, she said that she placed her son in the care of Andrews and went to sleep.
In her statement to police, Bakare also said that she was "aware" that Andrews "disciplines" her son and had previously seen him striking the child using "a belt or braided dog toy" when disciplining him. Additionally, Bakare allegedly explained that she had recently noticed "excess bruising" on her son, but said Andrews told her he had only fallen off the bed.
Police then read Andrews his Miranda rights and he agreed to provide a statement.
"During the statement, Anthony Andrews admitted to hitting the child with a belt 'harder than (he) should' a few weeks before this incident, as well as striking the child 7 to 8 times with a braided dog toy in the back, face, and buttocks area the morning of Sept. 4, 2023," the affidavit states. "Mr. Andrews also admitted to striking the child with an open hand in the chest at least once or twice before shoving the child into a corner."
After the alleged beating, Andrews said he placed the toddler back in bed. Several minutes later, he said the boy fell out of the bed, which was when he realized that Anthony Bakare was unresponsive."
Andrews is due to appear in court again on July 24, records show.
Following her extradition from Texas, Bakare was booked into the Shelby County Jail where she is currently being held on $1 million bond.
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