FROM CJ ROBINSON
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Top Photo is Shirley Matthews. Photo courtesy of Elmore County Jail.
In Elmore County, two defendants were convicted in jury trials recently for two separate incidents involving children.
A jury found Shirley Matthews guilty of Aggravated Child Abuse (a Class A felony, punishable by 10-99 years) which caused the death of her two-month-old son, Karson. Karson Matthews was born in July 2018, weighing 6 pounds, 2 ounces and in September 2018, he was taken unresponsive to Elmore Community Hospital weighing 4 pounds, 13 ounces.
An autopsy determined Karson’s cause of death to be negligence and the manner of death to be homicide. In an interview with law enforcement, Shirley admitted to having never taken Karson to the doctor after being released from the hospital after his birth. She claimed to be feeding him regularly and thought he would eventually gain weight. However, the jury heard overwhelming medical testimony about the child’s malnourished condition which led to his death. Karson’s father, Kristopher Matthews, was indicted for the same charge as his wife Shirley and his case is still pending.
In a separate trial in Elmore County, a jury convicted Tevin Robinson in two counts of Assault 2nd degree (a Class C felony, punishable by a year and a day to 10 years), and two counts Criminally Negligent Homicide (a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year.) Tevin Robinson was driving a child passenger in April of 2022, when he crossed the centerline on US 231 and side-swiped a vehicle before colliding head-on into a car driven by Sheila Frost of Titus. Both Frost and Tevin Robinson’s child passenger were killed in the crash.
District Attorney CJ Robinson said, “It is never easy to try cases on behalf of innocent children who senselessly suffer because of the choices of the adults who are supposed to protect and love them. This week we sat with the families of three victims who lost their lives (two were children) and all three deaths were completely avoidable. I am proud of the work of my prosecutors and staff who had to endure long days combing through medial evidence and horrific photos to seek justice for these families.
“The number of those driving on our roads after drinking or smoking marijuana is shocking, and as long as that behavior continues people will keep getting hurt, and we will continue to do everything in our power to pursue justice for those victims. As for the aggravated child abuse case, the infant starved to death, plain and simple. No rhyme, no reason, never taken to a doctor, no underlying medical condition. He ws just simply neglected until he died.
“Evil is real. Society can attempt to sugar coat evil in a variety of ways, but there is no excuse or justification. I am willing to accept for starving an infant to death and refusing to seek medical treatment as they wither away. We imagine these types of things happening in third=world countries when people have no resources and no avenues for help. But there is absolutely no reason this should happen in Elmore County today. Certainly, we expect a parent to do more for their child, but really for anyone… when it comes to just being a human, we are better than that.”
