A Maryland daycare owner who shot her husband for molesting children at her business was released early from prison. Shanteari Young was released from prison on Tuesday after serving 3 years of a 4-year sentence for shooting James Weems, Jr., a retired Baltimore police officer.
After leaving prison, Young moved to a halfway house in Washington, D.C. Her sentence officially ends in December 2025.
Young told CBS News she is looking forward to rebuilding her life and she thanked her supporters.
“A lot of people wrote to me, and you know I was able to connect with a lot of people,” Young said. “I definitely felt the support. I think the support is what kept me sane in prison.”
Weems Jr. used to work as a van driver for his ex-wife’s daycare, Lil Kidz Kastle, in Owing Mills. Prosecutors say Weems used his job as a driver to molest children.
Prosecutors claimed Weems would watch p0rn in his van while waiting to pick up the children. He is also accused of showing p0rn to children in the van. The videos depicted older men having sex with young girls, CBS News reported.
A 10-year-old girl went home and showed her parents p0rnography on her tablet. She told her parents that Weems showed it to her. He was also accused of making sexual advances toward her and giving her special treatment and snacks.
In July 2022, Weems was working security at an event at what was then known as the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C. when his wife joined him at the hotel.
Young confronted Weems about abusing children in her daycare. She shot him while questioning him about the allegations in a hotel room.
Weems went to trial in November 2024. He was convicted of rape and sexual abuse of a minor and sentenced to life in prison.
“The one thing I think that we need to know is that sexual abuse is not OK with children,” Young told CBS News.
Young has since divorced Weems and officially changed her last name.
Maryland daycare owner who shot her husband after he was accused of molesting kids at her business released from prison early pic.twitter.com/HOGNXwRNiH
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 26, 2025
