A Queens father has been convicted of murdering the 3-year-old son named after him, brutally beating the little boy in 2022, the Queens District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
In November 2022, first responders found little Shaquan Butler unconscious — his body and head covered in bruises and with only a faint heart beat — covered in cold water on the floor at the family shelter on Queens Blvd. near Hillyer St. in Elmhurst, where he was living with his mother, father and siblings after his mom called 911. The child died a short time later at Elmhurst Hospital.
On Wednesday evening, a jury convicted the 29-year-old father, also named Shaquan Butler, of depraved indifference murder, assault and other charges for the boy’s death and for separate injuries inflicted on his younger brother.
“At 3 years old, Shaquan Butler Jr. had 23 fractures to his ribs, three lacerations to his liver, bruises from head to toe along with other injuries and an empty stomach,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. “His father is now facing 32 years to life for his murder and the assault of the boy’s brother. I want to thank the ADAs and all the agencies involved in this prosecution.”
The jury deliberated for just three hours before reaching a verdict, according to the district attorney’s office.
Butler initially told authorities the boy was choking on a chicken nugget when he ran into a pole and struck his head on the floor. But doctors found evidence of prolonged abuse, contradicting what Butler said happened. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the little boy died of a heart attack and had a punctured lung from broken ribs, as well as bruises in various stages of healing.
According to police sources, the family was already under investigation by the Administration for Children’s Services on another allegation at the time of little Shaquan’s death. ACS had removed Shaquan and his siblings — then aged 2 and 11-months old— from their parents’ custody in late September, but returned them to the home on Oct. 6. The children’s speedy return to their parents’ custody a little over a month before Shaquan was murdered prompted questions about why the parents got their kids back so quickly,
“Something is wrong here,” a police official said at the time. “She gets the kids back. A month later, one of them is dead.”
In a statement, ACS said it is investigating the case with the NYPD, but would not comment on the family’s history with the agency. The outcome of the investigation was not immediately known.
Butler is facing 32-years-to-life in prison.
Originally Published:
