TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – The 26-year-old accused of leaving her toddler to drown in the Hillsborough River last week made a tearful appearance in court on Wednesday.
On Friday, prosecutors filed a memo support of their motion for pretrial detention, asking the court to deny Shakayla Denson bail, saying the mother poses a threat to the community.
Police said Denson stole a car and drove her 4-year-old daughter to the Hillsborough River and left the child to drown in the gator-infested water.
At a court hearing Wednesday morning, Circuit Judge Wes Tibbals heard from Maria Artigas who is a housekeeper and witnessed the incident from a home near the river.
Artigas only speaks Spanish was unable to understand any conversations that may have happened between Denson and the child before the girl’s murder.
Artigas says she watched as the little girl tried to stay above the water.
“She was lifting up her hands like this and then the head would come up and then lifting up her hands like this,” said Artigas through her interpreter in court.
Artigas did not call 911 and instead contacted the son of the homeowner to tell him what allegedly happened. That man called 911, but it was too late.
Denson seemed emotional throughout the woman’s testimony. So did her family and the family of the child’s father, which could be heard crying in the courtroom.
A lead detective for the Tampa Police Department gave a testimony regarding Denson’s arrest, saying he found the mother walking down the street singing the nursery rhyme “It’s Raining, It’s Pouring.” The detective said he chose not to interview Denson after reading her Miranda rights because when he asked if she understood her rights, her answers did not make sense.
After hearing both testimonies, Judge Tibbals denied Denson bond, saying there was more than enough evidence to hold her on charges of murder and aggravated child abuse.
