50-year-old Shanteari Weems pleaded guilty earlier this week in a Washington, D.C., court to injuring her husband, James S. Weems Jr., Bin News reports. According to her, Weems Jr. was molesting three children at her day care center, Lil Kidz Kastle in Owning Mills, Maryland.
As Blavity previously reported, the incident occurred back in July at the Mandarin Oriental in southwest D.C. At the time, police said at least one shot was fired in the hotel. They confiscated two guns from the hotel room and authorities found Weems’ husband conscious and breathing.
Weems’ attorney, Tony Garcia, said the 50-year-old explained to authorities that after learning of her husband’s alleged abuse against children who attended her day care, she traveled from Baltimore to D.C. with a 9mm handgun for her own protection against Weems Jr.
Weems Jr. is a former police officer and owns a licensed firearm.
Weems said that when she confronted her husband in the hotel room, things became heated. The situation quickly turned violent, and she pulled her gun and fired it. Her husband sustained injuries to his neck and leg, according to police records, Bin News reports.
“She was confronted at a very emotional, momentary, shocking moment by the parents of the children that her husband had molested,” Garcia told WBAL-TV. “That she let those children, that those children got hurt on her watch, she has extreme, extreme remorse for that. … She wrote a note because she thought he wasn’t going to make it.”
However, investigators found a note that indicated Weems planned to paralyze her husband to keep him from targeting more kids, Bin News reports.
Weems was arrested for several charges. She pleaded guilty to aggravated assault while armed and carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or business. The 50-year-old’s sentencing hearing is set for Feb. 3.