Mother cut her infant son’s neck to send him to ‘Jesus and God:’ DOJ

A U.S. Army wife has been charged with murder after she killed her 11-month-old son at their home on a Georgia military base, saying she wanted to send the baby to “be with Jesus and God,” authorities said.

April Evalyn Short, 30, of Fort Eisenhower, Georgia, has been charged by federal complaint with murder, with an aggravating circumstance of the alleged crime occurring during an act of child abuse, according to a statement by Jill E. Steinberg, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

Officials at Fort Eisenhower said in an online statement that the victim was the son of April Short and her husband, Staff Sergeant James Short. The couple’s two other children, ages 6 and 11, were home when their little brother was killed on Wednesday, authorities said.

April Short used a knife to cut the neck of her 11-month-old baby, who was rushed to Eisenhower Army Medical Center but unable to be saved, according to Steinberg.

Newsweek reached out via phone on Saturday night to representatives for Fort Eisenhower and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for comment. It was unclear at the time of publication if April Short had an attorney who could speak on her behalf.

Around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, James Short was on duty when he received a text message from his wife that caused him to become worried for the well-being of his children, according to the criminal complaint obtained by local media outlets The Augusta Press and WJBF.

The concerning message made references to God and said, “The days of darkness are upon us,” prompting him to call his wife who did not pick up, the criminal complaint states.

James Short returned home and found his wife barricaded in their primary bedroom with the baby and two other children. When he was unable to get into the adjoining primary bathroom, he called 911.

Officers with the Military Police and Department of the Army Civilian Police (DACP) arrived and were able to coax April Short out of the house but as police tried to detain her, she initially attempted to flee, the court documents state.

Authorities did not say if the two other children had suffered any injuries, but the criminal complaint states that April Short threatened to cut the 6-year-old girl if she didn’t stop crying.

When April Short was apprehended, James Short realized that his wife did not have their infant son with her, according to the criminal complaint. Around 9 a.m., he found the baby boy wrapped in a plastic shower curtain in the bathroom where he was bleeding from apparent neck wounds.

When FBI agents interviewed the older children, the 6-year-old said that her mother got knives and said she “was going to help” her little brother “be with Jesus and God.” April Short also told the children, “Don’t come into the bathroom because it might be really scary,” according to the court documents.

During an interview with investigators, April Short admitted to wrapping the infant in a shower curtain inside the bathtub and using a knife to cut his neck, saying that she knew what she did was “wrong” and “evil.”

While April Short made an initial court appearance on Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps, she has not yet entered a plea, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

She’s been ordered by the court to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

“There is reasonable cause to believe [April Short] may suffer from a mental disease or defect rendering her mentally incompetent to the extent she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against her or to assist properly in her defense,” the court order states.

April Short is currently in the custody of U.S. Marshals and is being held at Jefferson County Detention Center to await further proceedings.

The case is being investigated by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division with assistance from the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Henry W. Syms Jr. and Patricia G. Rhodes.