Authorities: Mother put slain 7-year-old at risk; no suspects identifiedBy Noah Haglund (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Originally published 03:06 p.m., April 30, 2008
Updated 03:59 p.m., April 30, 2008 
Tyrone Walker Shaveta McGill MONCKS CORNER — A mother shouldn't have left her 7-year-old daughter alone in their St. Stephen house for several hours during the time the girl was beaten to death last fall, 9th Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said. Nobody has been charged with Ta'Mya Grant’s killing, and nobody has been ruled out either, Wilson said. Authorities think that by leaving Ta'Mya by herself so long, Shaveta McGill put the child in an "unreasonable risk of harm." "These charges are related to her having left the child at home, unattended, for hours and not having secured the home while the child was left ...," Wilson said. McGill was charged Tuesday with unlawful conduct toward a child, a felony punishable by as much as 10 years in prison. The 23-year-old appeared for a bond hearing at Berkeley County's Hill-Finklea Detention Center this morning. Magistrate Harry Wright set bail at $40,000. If she is released, McGill must submit to drug testing and is barred from contact with children under the age of 16. She remained in jail in the early afternoon. Ta'Mya was found beaten to death with a board Sept. 29, 2007, at her family's house on Welch Street. McGill told police that she left the girl at home at 10:30 that night. She told them she went to get cigarettes, then walked to another home nearby and later met with two male friends. When the friends drove her back home, she went inside then came out saying her daughter had been hurt, police said. Authorities received a 911 call about 1 a.m. At the scene, investigators found blood splatter, a bloody handprint and a blood-stained, 10-inch piece of wood with a 1-inch nail protruding from the wood. The State Law Enforcement Division and St. Stephen police are investigating. Defense attorney Eduardo Curry said McGill has been working recently with a food-service company and living with a friend in Goose Creek. "I want the public to understand that these are always hard cases when you have mothers and children," he said. "It's so easy to judge (with) 20-20 hindsight." Read more in tomorrow’s editions of The Post and Courier. Editor's note: Earlier versions of this story incorrectly quoted 9th Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson. The Post and Courier regrets the error. |
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Comments
This article has 12 comment(s)
Posted by summerville_guy on April 30, 2008 at 10:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is one of those "mothers" who should be sterilized.
Posted by ashleyatwork on April 30, 2008 at 11:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well too bad for her ...if you read the other article in this paper about her we already have her convicted for this crime.
Posted by SomeTruthPlease on April 30, 2008 at 11:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Amen to that, Summerville_guy. I believe that even if she didn't play a part in the actual beating of her daughter, it certainly was no coincidence that she wasn't there to protect her. I believe that child was nothing but a burder on her, and that is apparent from the fact that she left her alone for hours while she went to go get 'a pack of smokes'. Someone knew the mother...if the child wasn't sexually assaulted, what was the reasoning behind this child's murder? She was a burden to someone...the only person I can think of is..the mother.
Posted by SomeTruthPlease on April 30, 2008 at 11:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
whoopsie..."burden"...not enough coffee.
Posted by MCgurl on April 30, 2008 at 3:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
None of this makes sense - first she walked to get smokes then hooked up with the friends. In another article she said she called someone to come get her for smokes, then visited a mutual friend. How does someone who can afford hair, nails, satellite, cigs, etc., raising a child on a convenience store pay, but can not afford to pay attention to notice if she locked the door or not, after leaving her precious little girl inside, alone, and asleep?!?! This has JonBenet written all over it - giving benefit of the doubt, maybe the objective was to "knock her out", and then freaked out when she didn't notice the nail in the board first? And wrapped in a blanket, too. Nice try, alibi has holes all over it. Fry the bi%@%!
Posted by GG on April 30, 2008 at 4:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This situation has never made sense to me.
Besides all the other queer circumstances reported, really, what person would enter a house late at night, beat a child to death with a board, and not molest the child or, at least, steal SOMETHING?!? This poor little angel was only 7. She certainly couldn't have had any enemies.
The Mom's (I use this term loosely) story STINKS! I believe she is involved or knows who is.
I am glad that they have decided to charge her with something. Now put her butt in jail for a long time.
Posted by ashleyatwork on April 30, 2008 at 4:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't know, they removed it or updated and combined it, it was on here early this morning saying they charged her with unlawful conduct toward a child and had a bunch of comments saying it was about time and most think she had something to with the actual murder.
Posted by luvmydogs59 on April 30, 2008 at 5:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's about time they charged her, at the very least, with unlawful conduct toward a minor...they should have charged her right from the beginning!! She damn well knew what she was doing by leaving that precious angel alone in the house. I agree with other posters that she knows more about who murdered her daughter then is being let on. I hope they get to the bottom of this sad situation. I'm sure down the road, we'll be reading that she has been charged at the very least as an accessory to murder.
May Ta’Mya rest in peace.
Posted by mrsnelson on April 30, 2008 at 6:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Again I join you guys in absolute disgust and grief over this incident. I am the mother of one of Tamya's school mates(Niah) and I am still fighting back tears as I think of what has happend to this little girl. It is senseless. I was there at the candlelight vigil, the funeral and the burial with my little girls and Shaveta had the same blank expression on her face that she has in the picture above. That to me doesn't look like a mother that gives a d*** that her daughter is gone forever. My daughter still gets upset at the mention of Tamya's name and I don't even think she is old enough to completely grasp what has happened. There has never been a time when people DID NOT get their just due so I am completely confident that Shaveta will reap what she has sown. I am not saying that she did it but I am saying that it doesn't appear to me that she cares very much so in WHO'S opinion is she a GOOD mother???? Dogs give birth but that doesn't make them parents. I feel that this a crime that should be punishable by death!!! 10 years is a pop on the hand, she deserves SOOOOOO much more.
Posted by mrsnelson on April 30, 2008 at 6:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That baby is already resting in the arms of Jesus. I am glad that she doesn't have to suffer anymore. Lord knows what hell she endured in the house with that wench of a mother. Im sorry guys but this just opened up a bag of emotions all over again. We love you Tamya.
Posted by judi on April 30, 2008 at 8:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I would like to know what kind of a mother would leave a child home alone.She needed cigs. please what is more important.I think she doesn't have a clue how to be a mom. I think drugs and friends meant more. I think that she should get a heck of a lot more than a slap on the wrist. She shows no emotions at all. If it was a mom she would be falling apart.
Posted by walleyedwoman1215 on May 1, 2008 at 12:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The weapon was a 10-inch piece of wood w/ a nail in the end. Ten inches (unlike, say, a 4-foot two-by-four) means the killer had to get up close and personal to beat the child to death. That's indicative of deep-seated rage (as is strangling or any manner of homicide involving extremely close contact.) And Ta'Mya was wrapped in a blanket--something that indicates both remorse and a close connection to the victim. All told, it ain't looking good for the mom... but if that were her bloody handprint on the wall, seems like she'd be in custody by now.