Shemene Cato sentenced to 15 years jail for beating of Shalom Guifarro, 9 year old daughter to death at their Crown Heights, Brooklyn home. Cops had been called to the home previously for up to 15 reports of domestic abuse.
‘Mommy help me!’ A Brooklyn woman who fatally beat her 9-year-old daughter — ignoring the young girl’s pleas for help — was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday.
Shemene Cato, 50, was handed the jail term by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Donald Leo for killing daughter Shalom Guifarro inside their Crown Heights apartment on May 15, 2022, the District Attorney’s office announced.
Cato — who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in October — beat Giufarro and her 13-year-old sister with an electrical cord and a broom for two hours over a missing tablet, prosecutors say.
‘Mommy help me!’
Guifarro tried to escape the attack by hiding under a bed but Cato pursued the child, lifting the bed and then dropping it on the girl’s head, after one of the bed’s legs broke off, the DA’s office said, the dailymail reported.
The mother ignored her daughter’s pleas for help as she bled internally, prosecutors stated.
Guifarro died from blunt force injuries to her head, face and body, the Chief Medical Examiner later determined. The child was discovered to have bite marks and bruising to her back, hand and head, CBS NY previously reported.
The elder daughter survived but suffered lacerations and contusions to her lower body.
Shalom couldn’t get up, was unresponsive, and died calling out, ‘Mommy, help me.’ Her older sister managed to sneak away to call 911 two hours after her sister’s death.
Cato was charged with second-degree murder and faced up to life imprisonment if convicted. But she pleaded to first-degree manslaughter on Oct. 26.
Ongoing domestic abuse at family home
She has been behind bars on Rikers Island since her arrest on May 16, according to city jail records the nypost reported.
‘The life of an innocent young girl was tragically and horrifically cut short at the hands of her own mother,’ Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez said in a statement Friday.
‘Hopefully today’s sentence allows for some closure for all who were deeply affected by this heart-wrenching case.’
Cops had previously visited Cato’s apartment 14 times for domestic abuse reports, most of which involved Cato reporting her ex for harassment. Still, there had been no prior involvement by city child services — it remained unclear why.
At the time of her arrest, neighbors remarked Cato’s daughters often appearing traumatized and receiving the wrath of their mother who was often heard screaming at the girls.
Cato worked for the city Human Resources Administration and her legal bills had been covered by her union.
