Fort Worth Jury Convicts Teen Mom Of Trying To Smother Baby

FORT WORTH (AP) - A teen mother has been convicted of injury to a child for trying to smother her infant by putting a blanket and then her hand over his face.

A Fort Worth jury deliberated about 30 minutes Thursday before convicting Shantaniqua Nykole Scott of Waco. The 18-year-old faces from probation to life in prison.

Defense attorney David Jones argued Thursday that Scott did not cause any serious injuries to her baby. The jury saw hospital surveillance footage showing Scott putting a blanket and then her hand over her infant's face.

Scott was convicted on two counts of injury to a child with serious bodily injury.

Last year Scott's 4-month-old son was being treated last year for a condition that caused him to stop breathing. After a doctor became suspicious, the baby was placed in a video-monitored room.

After the infant was smothered, emergency personnel rushed in and saved his life. He's now in foster care.

A detective testified Wednesday that after Scott's initial denial, she confessed and said it was hard being a teenage mother with no job or support from the baby's father.

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