A daycare owner who was jailed for shooting her husband after discovering he was sexually abusing children at her childcare center is now speaking out about life after regaining her freedom.
Shanteari Young recently reflected on the emotional moment she visited a halfway house on Dec. 17, 2025, to have her ankle monitor removed, marking the end of a nearly four-year legal ordeal. Young had been sentenced after shooting her husband, James Weems Jr., in a Washington, D.C., hotel room following allegations that he sexually abused children at her Lil Kidz Kastle Daycare Center.
“When I got in my car, I started crying,” Young told The Baltimore Banner about having her ankle monitor removed. “Because it was just like, ‘I’m finally done.’”
Weems survived the shooting and was later arrested on charges, including sexual abuse of a minor, and given life in prison. Young pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court to aggravated assault and carrying a pistol without a license, receiving a four-year prison sentence followed by two years of supervised release, with the final portion served in home confinement.
Now
that she has completed her sentence, finalized her divorce while incarcerated at FMC Lexington, and begun working at a residential recovery home, Young says she’s focused on moving forward and using her voice to advocate for children who have experienced sexual abuse.“I want to show people that something catastrophic can happen to you, but you can rebuild, and you can move on,” she said. “I’m trying to change this into a positive situation and help people.”
The aftermath of the case involves Young being named as a defendant in three
ongoing lawsuits tied to the now-closed Lil Kidz Kastle Daycare Center. She said she believes the children deserve compensation but feels she’s being unfairly targeted, adding that the narrative has shifted from “him being the villain to me being the villain.”Young is now advocating for legislation that would require childcare workers
to receive specialized training to recognize, prevent, and report abuse. She has been working with Sean Stinnett, a Baltimore Democrat who introduced the proposal, and says she also plans to launch a nonprofit, Opened Umbrellas 4 Lil Kidz LLC, to support survivors.As part of her healing journey, Young is currently writing a book about her experience titled “My Protector,” which she hopes to complete by May, teasing that readers will have to pick it up to fully understand the meaning behind the title.
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