Contact Admin. A woman was walking to the river's edge with a young child. When Artigas looked again, the woman was walking in the water, holding the girl close. Sitting just steps away from Artigas, shackled and dressed in red jail scrubs, was the woman Artigas would later tell investigators she saw that day. As Artigas spoke, Shakayla Denson slumped in her chair, weeping frequently through the nearly minute hearing.
In the end, prosecutors convinced Circuit Judge Wes Tibbals that there was enough evidence to deny bail for the year-old Tampa woman accused of murdering her 4-year-old daughter, Je'Hyrah Daniels, by abandoning her to drown in the river's murky water. Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Johnson argued that Denson poses a threat to the community and that no conditions placed on her would mitigate the danger if she were released on bail.
The judge heard first from Artigas, who said she heard a shout that day and turned toward the river to see a woman and a child walking that way. When Artigas looked again, the two were in the water. The woman came out of the river alone and threw herself on the grass. Artigas scanned the water but didn't see the child.
The two women decided to call the son of the owner of the home they were cleaning to report what they saw. He called Police say Denson had stolen a car at p. There, police say, Denson dragged Je'Hyrah to the river, carried her into roughly shoulder-deep water and let her go.
She was taken into custody not far from the scene. The state's second witness, Tampa police Detective Matthew Kirkpatrick, testified that a diver found Je'Hyrah in about five feet of water, roughly 50 to 75 feet from where the mother and daughter entered. She was pronounced dead shortly after at St. Joseph's Hospital. That revelation added to mounting examples of Denson's bizarre behavior that day.
