Tulsa Women With Dead Toddler In Car Found Guilty Of Murder

Thursday, March 6th 2014, 6:14 pm

By: Tess Maune

He was an innocent little boy who prosecutors say had no one. After a three-hour deliberation, a jury found the two women who were supposed to be caring for the toddler guilty of murdering him.

The Assistant District Attorney said 19-month-old Zamontay Green was basically tortured to death with long-term abuse, and for that jurors want the two women responsible to go to prison for the rest of their lives.

"He had been kicked, he had been punched, he had been struck with cords, he had been struck with belts," said Tulsa County prosecutor Sarah McAmis.

At 19 months old, Green knew nothing but horrific abuse, according to McAmis.

"He literally had injuries to every part of his body. All sides of his head, and face, and back, and arms and abdomen. His eyeballs were bruised," McAmis said.

She said Green's biological parents didn't want him, so they gave him to Jazmine Williams and Mica Shoate. He had been living with the women for several months when Tulsa Police officer Mitchell Helberg discovered his lifeless body in the backseat of Williams' and Shoate's car during a traffic stop.

"I felt his foot and it was so cold, it was very cold. I moved my hand to his heart and I felt nothing," Helberg said.

He performed CPR but it was too late, Green was gone. The medical examiner said he was killed by a major blow to the head. Prosecutors believe the toddler had been dead for hours before police found him.

"So he was struck with such force in his head that it caused a massive injury and caused him to die," McAmis said. "These women chose, for hours, to stand by and literally watch as he died a horrible death."

The defense attorney suggested the boy had a history of seizures and said what appeared to be cuts and bruises could be explained by how a child looks after death. Throughout the trial, Williams and Shoate sat emotionless, until the verdict was read.

"They never cried when we showed the pictures of his body, they only cared about themselves and how they are going to be punished," McAmis said.

Helberg said, "It's so hard to look at a little boy that is so innocent and then to just look at evil."

Now with two guilty verdicts, prosecutors and police say Green finally has justice.

3/26/2012 Related Story: Women Arrested For Murder After Toddler's Body Found In Car

3/26/2012 Related Story: Police Investigate Death Of Tulsa Toddler