Bellingham mom testifies against father who allegedly starved 3-month-old son to death
A Bellingham mother said in court this week that she and the father of her 3-month-old son, who allegedly was neglected until he starved to death more than five years ago, struggled to care for the baby because they felt like he had “1,000 problems,” and that ultimately it was the child’s father who was his primary caregiver in the last few months of his life.
Brittany Shane Daniels, 27, testified in Whatcom County Superior Court this week against 28-year-old Cody James Shields. Shields is on trial for second-degree manslaughter for the Dec. 8, 2015, death of his and Daniels’ 3-month-old son, Lucian Mykael Shields.
Daniels was sentenced to one year and a day in prison in January 2020 for her son’s death. She pleaded guilty in November 2019 to one count of second-degree manslaughter. She was given an agreed-upon exceptional sentence below the standard range in part for her testimony against Shields at his trial.
Lucian’s manner of death was listed as homicide and his cause of death was listed as undetermined, according to court records. Lucian’s weight was 9 pounds and 7 ounces at death. He had gained about 17 ounces since birth, the records show.
Most babies gain about an ounce of weight daily during the first three months of life, according to kidshealth.org.
Shields’ defense attorney argued during opening statements that they don’t know how the baby died, but that it was not the father’s actions that resulted in the child’s death. Shields’ attorney said the main question in the case is why the child wasn’t gaining weight, and said there may have been “some other undetected metabolic disorder” that kept the child from absorbing nutrients.
A struggling couple
During her testimony, Daniels provided the jurors a glimpse into Lucian’s short life and the struggles both he and the couple faced.
Daniels told the jurors the couple was on state and local assistance, including food stamps and cash assistance through a local program for their rent. She said the couple “had to work with what we had” in terms of money to pay for food and formula.
Both she and Shields alternated who was working, so that someone was home with Lucian and Daniels’ other young son at all times, she said. In early October, Daniels and her two children were in a car accident, and then later that month she had two surgeries to resolve a medical issue, she said.
Her movement was restricted after her surgeries in late October so Shields became the primary caregiver for Lucian, Daniels said. The couple also slept in separate rooms, with Lucian staying in Shields’ room, she said.
Daniels said Shields had insomnia and would often stay up during the night playing video games and sleep most of the morning into the afternoon. She said Shields often slept in the living room, while Lucian slept in Shields’ bedroom. Daniels said she felt like it was a one-sided relationship, with her putting in more effort than Shields, and that it was hard to care for the children.
“Most of the time I felt like I was doing it alone. I was wrangling an infant and a 2-year-old, there was a lot going on at all times,” Daniels said during her testimony.
Daniels said Lucian was a difficult baby to feed and that he was a slow eater. She said she attempted to breastfeed him, but then shortly after switched to feeding him milk-based formula. Daniels told the jury that Lucian’s stomach seemed upset by the milk-based formula, which was significantly cheaper, and that Shields suggested they switch him to a soy-based formula.
Daniels said at first Lucian seemed less fussy, but over time, the infant would “throw more of it up than it seemed like he could actually consume.” Daniels said her other son had had problems throwing up food as an infant, and thought this could be a similar situation, or that Lucian possibly had acid reflux issues.
“I just kind of assumed this was a like-minded situation, where we just needed to switch something up and it would be fine,” Daniels said.
She said the couple would often feed Lucian using a bottle-propping method, where they would use a blanket and form it into a brace to prop the child’s 6-ounce bottle of formula upright so that Lucian could suck from it. Daniels said she would stay in the room to make sure Lucian was able to start eating before leaving, but that oftentimes Shields would just prop the baby’s bottle and go about his day.
In addition to the child’s feeding issues, Daniels told the jury that Lucian cried for long periods of time. She said Lucian’s “tummy problems” and the crying “kind of went together.”
“It was difficult for Cody and I. It was frustrating not knowing how to help him properly,” Daniels said during her testimony. “Now looking back, it should have been a bigger issue. I thought we could fix it. If we tried something different, maybe we could switch up what we were doing and it would fix it and we would not have to go to the doctor.”
The messages
Messages between the couple read aloud in court during Daniels’ testimony this week showed the pair often complained about Lucian’s crying. The two often communicated through Facebook messenger, even if they were in the same apartment, because Shields’ phone was out of minutes and because it kept things more amicable, Daniels said.
In the last month of Lucian’s life, Shields sent messages to Daniels saying “Your son won’t shut up and it’s really annoying. Cuz there’s nothing wrong with him,” and that the child was “pissing” Shields off because he wouldn’t stop crying and he didn’t know what the child’s problem was, testimony and court records show.
In one conversation in early November, the couple were at Shields’ father’s house doing laundry. The pair started discussing driving Lucian around in the car to get him to stop crying and go to sleep.
The following conversation was read aloud in court during Daniels’ testimony:
▪ Daniels to Shields: “We’re going to have to drive his cranky ass around the block or something.”
▪ Shields to Daniels: “Or kill him.”
▪ Daniels: “There’s always adoption lol.”
▪ Shields: “Nah.”
▪ Daniels: “Why not lol.”
▪ Shields: “I don’t want to give him to someone else.”
▪ Daniels: “Are they not worthy of not taking care of your offspring.”
▪ Shields: “No”
▪ Shields: “I’d also hate myself later.”
▪ Daniels: “If you killed him or gave him up?”
▪ Shields: “Gave him up”
▪ Shields: “idgaf if I killed him lol.”
The conversation continued with the pair joking about leaving the children at Shields’ father’s house and sneaking out the back door, and that Lucian was likely upset due to his stomach.
Lucian’s death
On the night before Lucian’s death, Daniels said she gave her son a sponge bath and fed him.
Daniels said Lucian woke up in the early hours of the morning and she attempted to feed him again. She said he was fighting her on the feeding, and only ate about 2 ounces of formula before she went back to sleep.
She later messaged Shields asking him to feed Lucian. Daniels said she found out later that Shields allegedly never fed the baby.
On the morning of Lucian’s death, Dec. 8, 2015, Daniels said she was running late to her job and left without checking on or feeding Lucian, but could hear him crying. Shields was asleep on the couch at the time, she said.
Later in the day, Shields sent Daniels a message saying he had “arose from the dead” after sleeping on the couch. Daniels told the jury there was “a big gap in time” before Shields messaged her again informing her that Lucian was dead and that she needed to call 911.
In her testimony, Daniels said that no matter what the couple tried, Lucian always seemed to have a problem. She said his death was hard for both her and Shields. Daniels said she “kind of felt left in the dark” because she had left Lucian in Shields’ care while she went to work that day, and returned home to find police, ambulances and others at their apartment. She said initially Shields was hysterical on the day of Lucian’s death.
Daniels said after everyone left, the pair sat in silence and attempted to move forward with their lives.
“It came off emotionless, but I did not know how to put everything together,” Daniels said.
