Saint or Villain? Daycare owner told cops ‘I want the kids to get justice… you’re going to pay’, cops after shooting husband in the head during ritzy DC hotel staycation – Parents told her that he’d been molesting their children
‘I want the kids to get justice… you’re going to pay’: Daycare owner, told responding DC cops after shooting her husband in the head during swanky hotel staycation
Shanteari Weems, 50, is being held without bond on domestic violence and gun charges for shooting her x-cop husband James Weems, 57, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel In Washington DC, on July 20Â
Shanteari runs the Lil Kidz Kastle daycare in Baltimore County, Maryland
The couple from Owens Mill, Maryland, were in DC where James was attending an event at the $400-a-night hotel when Shanteari claims she began receiving messages from parents
Those messages allege that her 57-year-old husband, James Weems, a retired Baltimore cop was molesting their children at her day care
An hour-long standoff with a SWAT team ensued with Shanteari telling officers: ‘If you come in, I’m going to shoot myself’ and in reference to her husband: ‘F**k him, he’s a child molester’
When cops got into the room James was shot in the head and the leg, she had a gun in her purse and another gun was in her purse
She told police that when she confronted her husband, he came towards her so she shot himÂ
James Weems will be facing sexual abuse charges in Maryland Â

A Baltimore County daycare owner shot her cop husband in the head during a weekend stay at a luxury Washington DC hotel, telling him ‘I want justice for the kids, you’re going to pay’.
Shanteari Weems who owns and operates a child day care facility Owens Mill, Maryland shot her husband of five years James Weems, after being told by parents that he’d been molesting their children.Â
Shanteari Weems, 50, was staying at $400-a-night Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington DC with her husband James, 57, on July 20 and July 21 when she says she started receiving messages from the parents of the kids they entrusted in her care.Â
They told her that her husband, a retired Baltimore police officer who was at the hotel for an event, had been abusing the children at the Lil Kidz Kastle daycare.Â
She reportedly confronted him, leading to a blazing row. Eventually, Shanteari pulled a gun from her bag and shot James in the head.Â


When DC police arrived at the couple’s suite on the 8th Floor of the Oriental Hotel, a stand-off followed. Shanteari refused to come out of the room. Asked if some had been in shot in the room, she responded that he was a ‘child molester.’
Cops heard a male voice from the room state that he had been shot in the head and leg. She chose to communicate by writing and sent multiple notes explaining her decision.Â
They included scribbles which read ‘I want him to face the world as scum’, ‘I hope he gets beat up in jail, and I’m [going to] paralyze you.’Â
Two others read: ‘I want these kids to get justice, and you gonna pay’ and ‘My only regret for me is that I didn’t put the bullet in your head.’Â
Husband and wife both survived the incident, emerging from their room after a one-hour standoff with police.Â

Baltimore County woman shoots husband while they’re staying at high end Washington DC hotel after being told he’d been molesting children in her Day Care. There was a one-hour standoff with police inside the hotel, during which Shanteari Weems told cops how she wanted her husband to go to prisonÂ
She eventually surrendered after one hour. Police searching the room found two guns and Shanteari Weems was arrested and is being held domestic violence and gun charges in Washington DC. Her next court appearance is on Friday. Â
The husband will be charged with child sexual abuse charges in Baltimore, Maryland. He faces two counts of third-degree sex offense, three counts of second-degree assault and one count of displaying obscene material to a minor, according to local website The Baltimore Banner.
He is thought to have been attending the National Urban League Conference.Â
According to police, around 7:40 p.m. on July 21, a fire alarm went off in room 853 in the hotel. Weems said that when she made the accusations against her husband he made a move ‘toward’ her.Â
That’s when she says she took a gun from her purse and shot him.Â
When staff went to the room to investigate, they noticed blood on the wall. A member of staff then called police.

Responding officers were able to communicate with Weems through the door. They asked to enter the room in order to check on the condition of her husband.
An hour-long standoff with a SWAT team ensued with Weems allegedly telling officers: ‘If you come in, I’m going to shoot myself’ and in reference to her husband: ‘F**k him, he’s a child molester.’Â
Her husband shouted to officers that he had been shot in the head and leg. Weems then told him: ‘Shut the f**k up, I will kill you.’Â
Eventually, officers stormed the hotel room and arrested Weems. They found a gun in her purse and another in the room’s safe.Â

James Weems suffered non-life threatening injuries. The couple who had married for five years, live in Baltimore, Maryland.
Weems a former US Marine joined the Baltimore Police Department in 1996. He retired from BPD in 2005 according to The Washington Post, and had since been working as a private-security specialist.Â
He was attending an event at the Mandarin Hotel when he was shot, reports WUSA9. Â
Shanteari told DC police that she has reported her husband to authorities.Â
In a notebook, she suspect had written: ‘I’m going to shoot [the victim],’ ‘I’m going to paralyze you,’ ‘I want [the victim] to face the world as scum,’ ‘I hope [the victim] to get beat up in jail,’ ‘I want these kids to get justice, and you gonna pay’ and ‘My only regret is that I didn’t put a bullet in your head.’Â
In another letter, she wrote an apology to her husband’s alleged victims whom she referred to as her ‘babies.’
Shanteari also said that she didn’t plan to kill her husband but that she had thoughts of self-harm. She also said that she does not normally handle guns.Â

Lil Kidz Kastle will be closed until the investigation is complete. On the daycare’s website, Weems is quoted as saying: ‘I build our kids for them to be better people.’
The page also says: ‘With a structured staff, love and good character, Mrs. Weems leads the charge of the future generation at ​Kidz Kastle CDC!’
A GoFundMe page was set up for Weems and raised $3,000 before being removed. The goal of the page was $200,000. Â

Weems is facing charges of intent to kill, possession of an unregistered firearm, possession of unregistered ammunition and other gun offenses. She will have her first hearing on Friday.
The daycare operator is remanded without bail. However, with the question of whether the former police officer is the monster child sex abuser portrayed by his wife is yet to be decided, public support of daycare operator has grown and seen the hashtag ‘#FreeShanteari’ trending on social media. Â
On Monday her attorney, Tony Garcia, said: ‘We’re standing by our client. You know what I mean? Our client says she was defending herself, and we’re standing by it and we’re standing by her. And, we’ll be proceeding going forward in that vein.’
More support came from activist group Harriet’s Wildest Dreams whose spokesperson Qiana Johnson led a group of Weems’ supporters outside of DC’s Superior Court on Monday.
Johnson said Shanteari had ‘placed complaints to the proper authorities before… and her cries for help went unanswered. Our public, our government, did not keep her or the children safe.’Â
Leave a Reply