Stepmother charged in 10-year-old’s death
Posted May 31, 2011 8:52 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A 28-year-old Brampton woman has been charged with manslaughter in the death of her stepson, Shakeil Boothe.
Nichelle Boothe-Rowe, who appeared in court on Tuesday, is the second person to be charged after the 10-year-old boy died Friday evening.
Her husband and the boy’s father, Garfield Boothe, 31, was originally accused of failing to provide the necessities of life, but his charges were upgraded to second-degree murder on Tuesday.
The couple also has a eight-month-old child, who is now in the care of the Children’s Aid Society.
CityNews has also learned that in 2009 Boothe was convicted on two counts of assaulting Nichelle. He was sentenced to 18 months probation.
Both will be back in court next month.
Police found Shakeil without vital signs around 5 p.m. Friday, when they responded to a medical call on Homeland Court, near Queen Street East and Dixie Road.
He was pronounced dead soon after and, though an autopsy was conducted on Saturday, the cause will not be released.
Detectives say they will not lay any more charges in this case.
On Tuesday a neighbour of the two accused told CityNews he noticed warning signs that something was amiss in the household.
“I seen him (Shakeil ) out in the winter time with a pair of shoes too big for him, no gloves, no jacket, in a blizzard shovelling the driveway, I should have sensed something then,” said Dan Greig.
It has since been revealed that the boy’s father withdrew him from Hanover Road Public school in January, saying he was moving to Florida to live with his biological mom.
The Peel District School Board said Tuesday that they only track the movement of students within the province.
“When a student is formerly withdrawn and the parent is taking them to another country there is no such process (of tracking them),” revealed the Board’s Brian Woodland.
