Grandfather has meltdown in court docket as he stands by ‘child killer’ spouse

A grandfather whose much younger wife allegedly bashed and shook his 11-month-old grandson to death has exploded in a courthouse hallway.

Shanica Callaghan, 35, faced the Queens Supreme Court on Wednesday, supported by her husband Clinton James Callaghan.

Clinton’s grandson Jeramiah died on September 6, 2017, with a fractured skull and injuries to his brain, neck, and spinal cord.

A medical examiner found the baby died from ‘violent, repetitive forces of acceleration and deceleration and significant blunt force trauma being applied to [his] head and body’.

Callaghan, who has three young children of her own, was arrested on April 24, 2018, and charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, and endangering the welfare of a child.

Clinton has stood by his wife while she was out on bail ever since, despite her being accused of killing his grandson, of whom he had custody.

The case has wound its way through the courts, delayed by the pandemic, ever since and she appeared before Judge Ushir Pandit-Durant on Wednesday morning.

Clinton became enraged when he and Callaghan left the courtroom, and yelled at a photographer who was filming her in the hallway.

‘Do not take my picture, I’m a private citizen, I’m not on trial,’ he shouted.

He then got in the photographer’s face, continuing to yell menacingly, and whacked the camera away with his hand.

Callaghan, in the meantime, took off her denim jacket and put it over her head in an attempt to hide her face.

Underneath was a white dress that flowed all the way down to her feet, along with thick-rimmed glasses and her hair in light-brown braids.

Her look was a stark contrast to a previous court appearance in December, where she was covered in a thick black puffer jacket over a striped top and high-heeled boots, and had her hair tied into a tight bun.

Callaghan was represented by Christopher Renfroe, who successfully opposed motions by Assistant District Attorney George Kanellopoulos, and had the case adjourned until next month.

Court documents detailed how Jeramiah was rushed to hospital after returning from a family trip to Brookville Playground in Rosedale on August 31, 2017.

Clinton was given sole custody of him by the Texas State Department of Family and Protective Services in 2016 because the boy’s mother, his daughter, was a drug addict.

Callaghan carried the baby while Clinton walked ahead of her with their three children, who pushed their bikes along the sidewalk.

She claimed Jeramiah was healthy and playing normally that day, and did not suffer any injuries before they returned home about 7.30pm.

Clinton stayed outside their apartment on 144th Avenue near 231st Street in Springfield Gardens when Callaghan took the baby inside to feed him, but before long she frantically called him inside.

Callaghan told police she changed his diaper and gave him a bottle. As she was burping him, she said the baby began to vomit and had difficulty breathing. 

Clinton found Jeremiah was vomiting and gasping for air, he told police, and he called an ambulance to rush the baby to hospital while he went into cardiac arrest.

He was moved to Cohen Children’s Medical Center and put on life support, where he stayed until he died a week later.

While there, doctors found brain bleeding, extensive retinal hemorrhages in both eyes, a detached left retina, and major spinal cord injury, according to court documents.

An autopsy revealed the skull fracture in addition to these horrific injuries.

‘In a heart-breaking turn of events, the baby boy that today should be learning how to walk and talk is dead and buried,’ Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said at the time.

Callaghan will face court again in August, and faces up to 25 years’ jail if convicted.