By Forum Staff
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Thursday that Shaquan Butler was convicted of murdering his 3-year-old son in an Elmhurst shelter in November 2022 and for separate injuries inflicted on the boy’s younger brother.
Butler, 29, was convicted by a jury last Wednesday night of murder in the second degree, assault in the second degree and six counts of endangering the welfare of a child. The jury deliberated for about three hours before reaching a verdict.
According to the charges and trial testimony, on Nov. 13, 2022, Butler resided in a family shelter at the Pan-American Hotel in Elmhurst with his 3-year-old son, Shaquan Bulter Jr., two additional children and the children’s mother. At approximately 7:40 p.m. that day, the children’s mother called 911 to report that Shaquan Jr. wasn’t breathing.
Photo Courtesy of DA Katz
Queens DA Melinda Katz
EMTs found the 3-year-old naked on the floor, covered in cold water and unresponsive with visible bruises covering his body including three large bruises on his forehead. The child was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died.
Butler claimed his son choked while eating and he had attempted to save him.
The medical examiner determined the boy died from blunt force injuries to his torso. He had three lacerations to the liver and substantial internal bleeding. The child had 23 fractures to his ribs including some that appeared to have been sustained anywhere from a few days to a week prior to his death. There was no evidence that his airway had been obstructed and his stomach was empty.
Medical examination of the boy’s brother—then 2 years old—revealed malnutrition and physical injuries consistent with child abuse.
Butler faces up to 32 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 3.
