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Written by: A. Smith
Published March 27, 2023 @ 9:00 PM ET
Warning: The following story contains information regarding physical violence against children.
Update: An Army wife has pleaded guilty to murdering her 11-month-old son, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
April Evalyn Short, 31, admitted to second-degree murder in a negotiated plea agreement and now faces 20 years in prison, substantial fines, and five years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The charges stem from the November 2023 killing of her infant son, whom prosecutors say she stabbed “willfully, deliberately, maliciously, and with malice aforethought.”
According to court records, April Short’s husband, Staff Sgt. James Short, received alarming text messages from her before the incident. The messages referenced “God” and stated, “The days of darkness are upon us” and “We would be together again.”
Concerned, James Short left work and rushed home, where he found his wife barricaded in a bedroom with their three children, ages 11, 6, and 11 months. When she refused to come out, he called authorities.
Police attempted to get April Short to leave the room. Eventually, she exited with her two older children, pulled away from officers, and tried to drive off with them but was stopped and arrested.
During questioning, Short admitted to harming the infant. Her children later told investigators that she said she did it so the baby could “be with Jesus and God.”
“April Short will now have 20 years to think about her heinous actions,” said Paul Brown, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “This plea cannot undo the tragedy and loss, but it brings another measure of justice to those who knew and loved the child.”
RICHMOND COUNTY, Ga. – A United States Army spouse of a drill sergeant stationed at Fort Eisenhower (formerly Fort Gordon) in Augusta was arrested for killing their 11-month-old baby by slitting his throat with two knives. According to U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia Jill E. Steinberg, Short faces a murder charge, with an “aggravating circumstance” of the homicide occurring during a child abuse act, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps ordered her to complete a mental examination.
30-year-old April Evalyn Short is detained at the Jefferson County Detention Center, in U.S. Marshals Service custody. She has not entered a plea, and her mental examination is set to determine if she was “insane” during the murder.
At approximately 8:00 AM on the morning of November 15, Short’s husband, a Staff Sergeant, received an unnerving text message from his wife. She referred to God and claimed, “The days of darkness are upon us.”
Distraught and worried about his children, he called her, but she did not answer the phone. He immediately rushed to their home and discovered her barricaded in the main bathroom with their three children (ages 11, six, and 11 months old).
He called 911 when his attempts to enter the bathroom proved futile. Department of the Army Civilian Police officers arrived and asked her to exit the room, which she complied.
When she walked out of the bathroom with her six and 11-year-olds, an officer attempted to take her into custody, but she evaded and exited the house. She entered the passenger side of her vehicle, and “D.A.C.P. officer Q. Stacy followed,” trying to stop her but could not.
Short switched to the driver’s seat and attempted to drive away with the two children in the rear. Officer Stacy was partially inside the car when she began to reverse in the driveway, and he was forced to grab his service weapon.
When he ordered her to stop and exit the vehicle, she stopped the car in the street and was detained without further incident.
Suddenly, Staff Sergeant Short realized his infant was nowhere to be found. At 9:10 AM, he reentered their home, looked in the main bathroom, and screamed profusely.
He saw that his baby boy had been wrapped in a plastic shower curtain, placed in the bathtub, and was bleeding from wounds on his neck. Officials rushed him to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, where the attending physician pronounced him deceased.
During an interview with F.B.I. agents, the couple’s six-year-old daughter explained that her mother had grabbed two knives and said she “was going to help get” her baby brother “to God and Jesus.” She warned them, “Don’t come into the bathroom because it might be really scary.”
Short told the two children that she cut the baby with knives so he could “be with Jesus and God.” When her daughter began crying, Short threatened to cut her, too, if she did not stop.
April Short admitted to authorities that she wrapped her baby inside a shower curtain and used knives to cut his neck. She said the first knife was too dull to complete the task, so she used a second knife.
She confessed that she knew what she was doing and that it was “evil” and “wrong.” Regarding her mental competency, the court order stated, “There is reasonable cause to believe [the] defendant may suffer from a mental disease or defect rendering her mentally incompetent to the extent she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against her or to assist properly in her defense.”
With assistance from the F.B.I., the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is investigating this case. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Patricia G. Rhodes and Henry W. Syms, Jr.
Lesli J. Ellis-Wouters, communications director for Fort Eisenhower’s Cyber Center of Excellence, stated, James “Short joined the Army in 2006 as a signal support system specialist and joined the Fort Eisenhower team in 2021 as a drill sergeant.”
She said, “We are focused on providing support to all who suffered in this tragedy. We appreciate the sensitivity afforded to our community as we take care of our team and continue to heal from this tragic loss.”
April Short has been federally charged for this crime. This case is pending in court.