Cleveland Mother Attempted To Murder Son, Sentenced To Prison

Cleveland OH

12 February, 2021

11:13 AM

Description

CLEVELAND — A Cleveland woman was sentenced to prison for attempting to drown her 6-year-old son in a bathtub, prosecutors announced. Dazshea Watkins, 27, pleaded guilty to attempted murder, kidnapping, endangering children, domestic violence and pandering obscenity involving children. She was sentenced to 14 to 16.5 years in prison, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley said. "This mother committed unspeakable crimes against her own child," O'Malley said. "She has earned every day of her sentence." On Aug. 28, 2019, Watkins and her son were at their home on Kinsman Road and E. 70th Street in Cleveland. Watkins was upset with her son's father and during bath time, she held her son underwater by his neck and yelled obscenities at him while he struggled, prosecutors said. Watkins recorded the incident on her cellphone and sent the video to her son's father. She then took the 6-year-old to a bedroom and tried to suffocate him with a pillow, prosecutors said. The child's aunt got to the home, found the boy alive, and rushed him out of the house, according to court documents. Watkins was taken into custody by police on Sept. 4, 2019. She was sentenced to range of 14 to 16.5 years in prison, prosecutors said. She was sentenced under the "Reagan Tokes Law," which provides indefinite sentencing for non-life felonies of the first or second-degree. The Ohio Department of Corrections will review the case and Watkins's behavior after she has served 14 years and will make a determination as to whether she should be released.