Man Who Shot, Killed Wife Gets Life Sentence: State Attorney

Sarasota FL

05 April, 2022

1:05 PM

Description

NORTH PORT, FL — A North Port man who shot and killed his estranged wife at their home while their three sons were in another room was given a life sentence in the Florida Department of Corrections Monday, according to a news release from State Attorney Ed Brodsky. Shawn Baker pleaded guilty to his wife's shooting death in February, according to ABC 7. On Sept. 30, 2020, he walked into the master bedroom of his family's home while his wife, Kimberly Baker, was on the phone and shot her twice in the head, Brodsky's office said. Their sons heard the gunshots that killed their mother and locked themselves in a bedroom, "fearful for their own safety, not knowing if their mother was dead or alive," according to the state attorney's office. After shooting his wife, Shawn Baker called 911, telling a police dispatcher, "I'm sorry. I shot her." He told the dispatcher he would be waiting in their front yard with his hands up and on his knees, according to reports. The fatal shooting, which was investigated by the North Port Police Department, had a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years in state prison and a maximum possible sentence of life without the possibility of parole. "Kimberly Baker and the defendant were in the midst of divorce proceedings when Baker shot and killed her," said Assistant State Attorney Karen Fraivillig. "The defendant robbed his children of both a mother and a father by his criminal act. Ms. Baker planned to resettle in Pittsburgh and was murdered just days before her move to begin her new life in Pennsylvania. This is a classic case of 'If I can't have you, neither can anyone else.' Shawn Baker received a just and appropriate sentence for this crime."