A Shreveport woman has been convicted of murder in connection with shaking an 18-month-old child to death in June of 2020.
Tatianna Burns, 43, of Shreveport must serve a mandatory life sentence after Judge Donald Hathaway found her guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Angel Wong, an infant who had been placed in her care. In the midst of juror selection earlier in the week, Burns exercised her right to a bench trial rather than a trial by jury.
The state called four medical doctors who agreed that the infant's fatal bleeding and swelling resulted from acute abusive head trauma.
In an interview with investigators after the infant had been hospitalized, Burns admitted to shaking the girl for nearly an hour, saying that she was unconscious and that she was trying to wake her up, according to police documents made part of the case's public record.
"Burns stated that she then began to forcibly shake Wong for about 45 minutes to an hour trying to get her to wake up," an SPD detective wrote in an application for a warrant for Burns' arrest. "Burns demonstrated how she shook Wong by doing hand motions that indicated that she was upside-down, sideways, vertical and back-and-forth. Burns even admitted to holding Wong upside down by her legs while shaking her. Burns also demonstrated that she held the face and behind the head of Wong while shaking her back and forth. Burns advised that while she was on her way to the hospital with Wong, she was stopping at red lights and shaking her again, but she would not respond."
There are approximately 1,300 cases of shaken baby syndrome in the United States each year. About 25% of cases are fatal, while 80% of infants who survive shaken baby syndrome experience lifelong complications including blindness, seizures and cognitive impairment, according to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Burns will return to Hathaway's court July 23 for sentencing, according to the Caddo Parish District Attorney's office.